DATELINE: Paris (2)

I haven't taken my first Metro ride but I have had my first croissant.  It came from Carton's over in the 6eme.  This wonderful place is a family favorite and Mr. C heads right for it on every trip.  He went out early this morning, walked over to St. Germaine, picked up four (!) of these delicacies, bought a paper and was home before I was really awake.  Café, croissant, apricot yogurt all on a Paris morning.  What more could you ask?  The day was spent doing chores,  First, down to the street market at Maubert-Mutualité for some basics and some goodies; salad fixings, a little quiche for lunch, a roast chicken for dinner, some camembert cheese, a demi-baguette to eat with the cheese, a tarte au citron for dessert, and a lovely bunch of tulips for our dining room table.

  You can see our amuse-bouche in the foreground; olives Provençal, the cheese, some bread.

We went back to the apartment, unloaded all of those goodies and headed back to the local supermarket to get a few more things like water, olive oil, vinegar, wine, etc.  Basics.

After lunch the afternoon was devoted to other chores.  Laundry!  The laundromat we have always used is now a rock music cafe so we had to find another place.  We did, and it is a lot better than the old one.  An hour and a half later we packed up our newly washed and dried duds and headed home.  Clean clothes are a good thing!

Tomorrow is a get-out-and-shop day.  Mr. C wants to go over to the Galleries Lafayette for some smart underwear purchases ~ I'm going along as translator and fashion critic ~ and then we'll probably go to Le Roi du Pot au Feu for lunch, walk up to Fauchon's to oogle the fruit and vegetable displays, stroll to the Madelaine and give it another look.  There's a church in our neighborhood that has concerts almost every evening and that might be a plan for tomorrow.  Thursday is a visit to the Cluny, about three blocks from here, or maybe the Jacquemart-André that would include lunch in its marvelous cafe.  What to choose. . .

Last evening we went next door to Les Fêtes Galantes (loosely translated as "an elegant party") for dinner.  We had been there before and it was every bit as delicious as it had been almost 10 years ago.  We both had lamb chops, perfectly done and perfectly seasoned.  I had escargots to start, Mr. C had onion soup.  For dessert, fruit for me, a tart for him.  It being Monday, it was a slow night; there were only four other diners while we were there.  The place is tiny; probably 8 or 9 tables but its fame is widely spread.  We'll go back before we leave. 

A word about the apartment.  This is our third stay here.  It's in a great location, on the 3rd floor (US 2nd floor) of a very old and narrow building.  One apartment per floor.  Tiny kitchen - one person at a time - and bathroom.  Comfortable living/dining room (see above but don't be fooled by the wall of mirrors behind the dining table that makes it seem much bigger than it is) and a comfortable, relatively spacious bedroom.  The stairs are very narrow and it takes me forever to navigate them, but once upstairs the rooms are filled with light.  Nice furnishings.  Pictures tomorrow.

So that about covers the first 24 hours here.  There's more to come.  Much, much more!