My Paris Pilgrimage #4

Tuesday, 28 August, A Taste of the Future

So, this morning started slowly again. S&B slept in a bit since they were so tired from yesterday's adventures. Decision was to go to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur.  Once more, I realized I had no desire to do that. I wanted to explore the neighborhoods around the apartment and go to this little street called Rue Mouffetard that I had heard about. So, we split up again.

I'm sure S&B are having a wonderful time, but my day was EXACTLY what I hope most of my days will be during my stay.  I leisurely walked to Rue Mouffetard along our main street to Avenue Les Gobelins and then quickly to the Rue.  What a treat!  Here are a few pics so you can get the idea:

On my way to the Rue, I stopped at a little department store called Monoprix to see if they had a simple, wheeled cart to use for shopping excursions and I met a lovely woman about my age named Elaine. She was an American who moved here with her husband when they retired. She was informative and sweet (told me the best place to get what I wanted was at La Defense--it's a bit of a ride, but who knows? I might tackle it someday).  I didn't get an invite to connect with her again or exchange contact info, but I'm hopeful we'll have another chance encounter so I can get to know her better. She was delightfully charming and a wealth of info!

So, after walking up and down the Rue looking at shops and cafe after cafe (Oh MY! It's an international plethora of food!) serving every possible genre of food from Albanian to Zoroastrian, I chose a small place that was in a good spot for watching people go by.  Here are pics of the menu, my salade Nicoise (doesn't that look like the perfect French lunch?), and the view: (Sorry for the lousy picture placement! I can't seem to get this thing to do what I want it to do!)

Finished my lunch and decided that I absolutely needed to find Shakespeare and Company, the famous English bookstore in Paris that wasn't all that far away.  I found the path on Google maps and had another wonderful stroll through a couple of neighborhoods, past ancient churches, across busy streets, past butchers, bakers, and sellers of flowers, fruit, cheese, and wine. I even passed by The Hurling Pub (do I dare ponder how they got that name?), the  O'Tacos shop [Hmmm? Irish/Mexican?], and Lucha Libre [the San Diego franchise has a very long arm!]. I finally turned a corner where I was almost upon the bookstore and realized that Notre Dame was right there in front of me!  Here are more pics of that part of my day:

So, I'm finally there--it sits alongside a cafe by the same name and it's quirky, old, busy, and filled with tiny rooms and levels and books and books and books. They don't allow photographs inside, but I took many outside. I also managed to buy a few items to add to my own library and picked up a couple of canvas bags that they were selling even though they were much too expensive for a bag! The outside has signs and quotes and one elderly lady was sitting on a bench with her Pomeranian...of course, I had to get the dog into the picture with the Shakespeare logo! The quotes are all interesting...even the one on the bag that they gave me in which to carry my new bags and books! The next group of pics tells all.

 

 

So, my quest for today was complete. I tried to take the Metro home, but one section of the train is still under construction and I couldn't immediately find the right Metro station, so when I saw an available cab, I took it!  Amazing how cheap cabs are. Spent about $10 to get home--albeit much more expensive than the $2 Metro, it saved me frustration and  confusion. I'd do it again and probably will.

At the end of it all, I spent the day alone and loved every minute. I didn't have to discuss where I was going, how I'd get there, what I wanted to do next, or wait for folks doing stuff when I was ready to move, or feel badly that others were waiting on me when I got slow. I love my friends--but I'm learning that here, under these conditions, being alone is exactly what I want.  I'll enjoy the next few days with Barb, Sheila, Linda P, and Donna, but I'll also look forward to them leaving!

And, wait!  One more thing: The crowning moment of the day was meeting Lara, Luke, and Beth on the stairs up to my apartment. Lara is a young mom who is British (!) and speaks English. Luke is her son (he looked about 15 months) and Beth is her daughter (she was perhaps 3). They live on the 3rd floor and she invited me to visit her! I have a neighbor-friend!  How exciting is that???

A bientot, mes amis!