1) Our favorite Italian deli on Rue Mouffetard;

2) R buying veggies;

3) Lower level of Sainte Chapelle;

4 & 5) Upper level of Sainte Chapelle

Allo! Allo!

Greetings from a VERY gray and cold Paris! What happened to the sun?? We checked the weather forecast on the computer this morning, and it was something like 32 degrees; feels like 27 … and boy, it did! Supposed to get up to 46 today, but never made it; not even close! So…where to begin??

We decided to try the Friday market at Place Monge, which is supposed to be pretty good – and go from 8 until about 2 or 3. Well, the quickest way there was to walk – yes, in spite of the cold! – and while we did get a little side-tracked along the way (of course the necessary streets were all on cracks on the map…) they were still setting up when we arrived a bit before 9! Other than a cheese stall, the selection didn’t look all that great (though what can you expect in the middle of winter?) so we decided to forsake Place Monge and walk down to Rue Mouffetard, (the “usual”) to shop.

Went to our favorite butcher shop for supremes de poulet (boneless, skinless chicken breasts). Then to Franprix for a few basics, with additional stops at the cheese shop for some incredible Roquefort, our Italian deli for dried tomatoes, bresaola and yet more cheese, and finally the greengrocer for haricots verts, mushrooms and potatoes. Whew! Caught the bus back to the flat to drop everything off; SO convenient!

Back out into the cold and gray (can’t believe what a difference the sun makes; you can tell from the photos!) and heading to Sainte Chapelle at the Hall of Justice. For anyone who hasn’t been there, it’s a bit hard to describe. It started life as a church built by St. Louis to house Christian relics. It is now completely surrounded by the Hall of Justice and the Quai des Orfevres (familiar to Maigret fans as the police station!). At one time in it’s life, it was actually used as a document storage facility, and some of the incredible glass windows were actually destroyed!! Imagine!! Sainte Chapelle is really on two floors; the under floor, and then you climb up a flight of stairs and – voila! – the windows are AMAZING! Hopefully some of the photos can capture some of the beauty, but it really needs to be seen to be believed!

From there we found the bus to take us to the Institut du Monde Arabe and their special exhibition on the Phoenicians of the Mediterranee. The Institut has a wonderful restaurant on the 9^th floor of one of their buildings (beautiful views; just not today!) that we ate at several summers ago when Mom was with us; great food! And an incredible exhibition!

As those of you who know us know, we like really, really OLD things (like each other…). Cave paintings, pyramids, last summer’s Parisien exhibit on Afghanistan – and wow, the Phoenicians fit right in! The story of how they moved from the coast of Lebanon throughout the Mediterranean is very interesting, touching parts of Spain, France, North Africa, Italy, Sardinia, and Sicily. Their artifacts seem to be a combination of Mesopotanian winged figures (lots of flying griffons) with Egyptian gods and goddesses; incredible combination and actually helps put some of the other history in perspective for me. It was crowded but not impossibly so, and we were able to get a good look around – thank goodness for audio guides, which were great!

We finished the exhibition a little after noon, and came out right in front of the Institut’s café. Figured if their café was anything like their restaurant, we were in the right place! And we were! R ordered their chicken schwarma (broiled chicken in pita bread) and I ordered their vegetarian hors d’oeuvres. GREAT! Really a treat (but then I LOVE motobal, which is the French equivalent of baba ghanoush!) Decided that instead of having a big dinner (following that big lunch) we would have the last of the BTOR (yes, it does go a long way!) and R’s special Parisien chicken tomorrow night.

After lunch, there was still one more place that I wanted to go before I would let poor Robert relax, and that was 13 a Table (I think of it as 13 at Table after the Agatha Christie story). It’s a WONDERFUL kitchen store that I’d spotted from a bus several days earlier and wanted to return to. (We still needed a few things such as a SERVING SPOON in the apartment! Forgot to bring one, and it is SO difficult dishing up meals without one!) 13 a Table is on the Rue de Rivoli between Hotel de Ville and St. Paul station. TERRIFIC store; would LOVE to get some dishes, but do worry about getting them home! At any rate, we found some lovely wooden utensils, a great stainless steel serving spoon, neat napkins, a cheese grater that I’m going to take home, a coffee thermos bottle that R has been looking for (and I hope will fit in our suitcase!) as well as 6 very small squat round glasses that we will use for appetizers or the like … again, once we get them home! All in all a very successful shopping trip, although I am still looking for a butter dish for the flat.

From there we tried to take the bus back home … say tried, because as we were heading up Saint Michel, the bus stopped and announced that they were having to make a detour, and would not be going to the Luxembourg! Wondered what that was all about!! But instead made out way to the metro (amazing public transit system in Paris…) and back home. When we came out of the metro, the street was blocked off by police cars; no traffic at all! And, in the distance, down Saint Michel toward Montparnasse, it looked like some sort of parade was forming up. Stopped at the 8 a 8 (huit a huit) store next door and asked the young man working there. He just smiled, shrugged, and said it was the students – they were always protesting about something! So! There you have it!

Had a nice leisurely late afternoon with naps and an early dinner. Now in the curl-up-with-a-good-book stage, which is what I plan on doing as soon as I finish the blog! Not sure what the morrow will bring, as we want to avoid crowded tourist-type places on weekends; will have to wait and see what the weather is like! R has requested a “down” day to rest his weary bones…hmmm….

So that’s it for today! Au revoir et a demain!!

Love,

m