The day started with the usual breakfast… same as yesterday… Today’s morning activity was a walk around the Mairie district that has been our home for the week. Deb had bought a series of iphone apps that map out several such walks in the places that we are staying… and I have to say they are great little walks for finding some little gems away from the main roads. We started at Hotel de Ville … and wandered past St Pauls Cathedral… a few medieval buildings, the Jewish quarter, the bastille monument and a bunch of small gardens… before finishing
at the National Archives.
Hotel de Ville..
Place de Vosges is a ‘must see’ square on this route. Victor Hugo wrote much of Les Miserable in his house adjoining this square. It is now lined with shops and art galleries … so we spent a bit of time exploring…
At the end of the walk we stopped for lunch in one of the cafes and visited the Georges Pompidou centre. This is a gallery of Modern Art, which isn’t usually my thing, but they did have some unique pieces that were quite good… here’s one that was pretty good…
After an emergency ice-cream stop … we gathered the energy to jump on the metro and visit the Pere Lachaise cemetery. I know it sounds strange … but it has some of the most amazing shrines where multiple generations of families are buried. It is truly worth a visit…
So now for the ‘on the way home from the Cemetery’ … we dropped in to the super market to by some essential supplies… Croissants, ham and champagne… The guy at the checkout started babbling at me in french.. Deb and I looked at each other … both equally perplexed. The next person in the line tell us … the Champagne is on a ‘Buy one… get one free deal!’ … WIN I say!
The final chapter for today… was Cheese Fondue… a healthy dish wher one can dip bread or ham etc… into a container of molten cheese … In our case it was a Rocquefort… very satisfactory … and a fine Bordeaux wine to match.
Ok … so that’s it for today … until tomorrow
Rob
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 