Up early this morning to meet Christine -- the plan was for her to take the airport bus to the Arc de Triomphe, I would meet her there around 9:00-9:30am, we'd drop her lugggage off at the apartment and go exploring. Worked farily well except the part where her plane arrived an hour early and she ended-up waiting an extra half hour at the Arc until I could throw on some clothes and get there. Dropped her stuff off at the apartment, had a quick bite to eat (coffee and fresh baguettes), then it was off to one of my favorite farmers' markets -- Marche d'Alige.
Wandered down the street, leisurely poking our way around the flea market stalls, slowly made out way through the crowded produce stalls (bought some vegies for dinner -- and some fresh strawberries) then explored the indoor market and the small shops lining the streets -- Christine suggested we do a cheese tasting with dinner (I learned that cheese is the last course of any French meal) so we (she) picked-out a few cheeses to try.
It was after 2:00 when we both started getting hungry so decided to find a restaurant and have lunch. We'd stop at a place, look at the menu, agree that this place looked good, but oh, there's another place a half block away so let's see what they have -- then repeat, and repeat -- we eventually ended-up walking to the Place de la Bastille and had lunch at a brasserie overlooking the square -- between eating and watching the people walk by, we were probably there for a couple of hours whiling away the time. It was a pleasant day, scads of people were out on the streets and most of them had to walk right past us.
Then we took the Metro back across town and stopped at a local market to pick-up some more groceries. Made dinner, had our cheese tasting (tried a couple types of cheese that I had never had before), she called it an early evening and I went back to transfering and posting photos on the journal/blog website.
One of the things on Christine's to-do list was go to a large flea market, so, Monday morning, we set-off for the Marche aux Puces de St-Ouen -- founded in the 19th century, it lays claim to being the largest market in Europe with over 2500 stalls grouped into a dozen "market areas" each with it's own specialty (antique furniture, European art, Asian art, etc...). The tour books estimate that it would take an average person an entire week to see the whole place. Located in a "sketchy" area of Paris -- not a place you'd want to be after the crowds thinned-out or after dark -- the first challenge was to navigate the two block long gauntlet of con artists hawking "guaranteed to be fake" watches, perfumes, cell phones and for some reason, bed linens. There are so many making so few sales, I don't understand why they even try -- maybe they get a "cut" from the pickpockets working the area.
The market itself feels like you're walking into a shanty town -- atmosphere! -- with grafetti, plastic tarps, and a vibrant "hustling" music to the calls of the vendors. Quite a bit of amazing stuff -- had to keep reminding myself that the chair, the desk, the lamp, the paintings, etc... -- wouldn't fit in my suitcase, or I'd have had a slug of new "toys" to bring home with me! Spent two to three hours looking -- and then only saw a tiny slice of the place -- finally just "burned-out" there was just so much, and called it a day -- then it was back through the gauntlet to the Metro.
There's an old vineyard in Paris near Sacre Coeur -- it was kind of on our way back to the apartment -- so we decided to drop-in and see what the wines were like. Stopped to have a quick lunch on the way and I was reminded that there's no such thing as a "quick" lunch in Paris -- Parisians take their time with pretty much everything but walking. Two hours later, after a very good lunch, we pushed on to the vineyard -- pretty much straight-up the side of one of the few hills in Paris. Think of the Fillmore Street hill, Telegraph Hill in San Francisco or the Boston Marathon's "Heartbreak" hill -- kick-up the steepness a bit -- you get the idea. Fortunately, it's all steps and cobblestone lanes (ha, ha, that's a joke!)
Made it to the address of the vineyard only to find no winery -- apparently they just grow the grapes there (minor detail the tourist guides leave out). Seems they make the wine elsewhere and it's only sold at charity/fund-raising events. Oh well. good exercise!
We then decided to continue trudging to the top of the "hill" to the village of Montmartre (next to Sacre Coeur) -- journaled about it a few weeks ago -- it's a square -- surrounded by old two and three-storied buildings -- that's essentially an art show seven days a week with artists displaying their work or offering to do your sketch (for the quality of their work, I can't believe they only charge 5 euros -- a huge bargain!). Cindy and I went there a few weeks ago and I got so drawn into looking at the art that I didn't take any photos so figured I'd take the chance to correct that oversight while Christine and I were there.
Then it was back to the apartment where we took a short break before heading out to meet Christine's sister who was coming to Paris from another part of France to join us. Unfortunately, her train was impacted by the "rolling" train strikes occuring here in France and a five-six hour trip turned into a ten hour one complete with cancelled trains, bus "bridges" and not knowing if the train would even reach Paris or if the conductors/engineers would just pull into a random station and call it a day. Fortunately, she made it, got her bags back to the apartment and went out for a late (not by French standards) dinner and a couple bottles of wine!
Next day, we were up early and off to see the Arc de Triomphe -- started in 1806 to celebrate Naploleon's victory at Austerlitz, it wasn't completed until thirty years later after he had been deposed and his empire had crumbled. It's essentially become France's version of the "Tomb of the Unlmown Soldier" for soldiers killed in the various conflicts in French history.
The Champs-Elysees, one of the fabled shopping streets of Paris, radiates outward from the base of the Arc -- so we took a vote and decided to go "shopping" (FYI: the vote was 2-1). It's a huge, wide boulevard lined by ritzy stores, some of whose names I recognized, many of whom I didn't, but it was a nice walk on a warm sunny day.
Ended-up at one of the "grands magasins" (department stores) of Paris -- the Galeries Lafayette for lunch -- they have an excellent cafeteria on the seventh floor with a 270 degree view overlooking the city . These cafeterias used to be a "given" in any major department store in the States until the economy "took them out" thirty years ago -- it was nice having a chance to step back in time to a more gracious era.
After a little bit more shopping, we set-off to solve a perplexing mystery -- when moving to the new apartment, Cindy and I noticed a lovely cupola and steeple rising in the distance over the neighborhood but couldn't figure out what building it belonged to -- it was big, fancy and obviously some kind of a landmark. When Christine and Cathy noticed it they dove into Google search to try and identify it and came up with some possibilities -- we narrowed it down to one and seeing as it was in the general location of the Champs-Elysees, had it on our list to visit to see if it was "the one". We took the Metro a few stops, walked down the street, turned the corner, and, viola, there it was -- mystery solved -- Eglise Saint-Augustine!
Around since the Middle Ages, it was originally built in the Gothic style but was modified to include the cupola and steeple during the Renaissance Revival time period -- apparently one of only a few churches representing both architectural styles in one building. Not on the tourist radar, it was a beautiful, graceful, untouched, working church -- not "gussied-up" for the tourists. Satisfying to have solved the mystery and seen such a "hidden" jewel!
Then, for Christine and her sister, it was off to visit an elderly relative for the late afternoon/evening -- for me, it was back to the apartment to upload that day's photos. Later, when they returned, the three of us went out for dinner at a French restaurant just down the block. We had eaten-out the night before and I had my first taste of real French cuisine -- salmon on a bed of ratatouille (vegetable stew) -- excellent) -- so this was to be my second experience. Was very glad to be with Christine because I understood virtually nothing on the menu -- ended-up ordering steak that had been salt-cured (they pack the meat in salt and then press the liquid out of it to cure it) -- this also had a rosemary crust to it and was served cold -- quite unusual for me -- it was okay but liked the previous evening's offering better -- but I tried something out of my "comfort-zone" which part of what this "adventure" is all about!
This morning, walked Christine and her sister to their car rental pick-up place a few minutes away, said good-bye, watched them drive away (on an adventure of their own -- heading for the Coast, taking back roads to avoid the flooding), stopped at a patisserie for coffee and a croissant (and people-watching) and returned to the apartment -- to reality and one of my "favorite" things here in France -- doing laundry.
