Shopping in Paris

Remember the last entry we were looking at a little summer place here in Paris, well we thought we should kinda of spruce the place of with some homey touches so we headed out today to find some of those hidden treasures that would kind of make it OURS. First off we thought we should find some pieces to put around the back yard and although it was a little damaged we figured we could get this one at a decent price at a scratch and dent sale.

Then we needed to pick up something for a bare spot on the wall in the back kitchen and found this little portrait of someone's grandma that kinda of fit the bill.

There was an almost unlimited selection at this little market called the Louvre but it was a little crowded there, 24,000 folks a DAY go through the place. We actually had a guided tour of the place and was that ever worth the money. Our guide got us around through the mobs and we got to see some pretty cool art up close and actually have someone who knew what they were looking at explain it to us. The little painting above was done by an Italian fellow who also painted a few church ceilings back home, his home, in Italy, and had a commission to do this portrait of someone's wife but just one of the mysteries surrounding it is that no one knows whose wife it was and obviously the fellow who commissioned it didn’t like it cause it was still in this Da Vinci possession when he died. Big mistake not picking up that little painting I am thinking.

Maybe the best part of the Louvre is not the art inside it but the museum itself is a work of art well worth the trip to see all by itself.

It is huge and the shot above is just one of thousand of similar pictures you could take of the exterior.

Of course no trip to Paris would be complete without an éclair and these were a way better than they look in the picture, I could eat a dozen all by myself, but then I would have to buy new clothes so Brenda drug me away with only one, the other one was hers.

Today was another day to wander the city and just look at things, we walked out this morning and stopped at this restaurant for our breakfast.

I had the Egg Benedictine and they were excellent but Brenda had plain old bacon and eggs and they were not so good, so the picture is obviously before we ate. Once that was done we strolled on up to the Notre Dame Cathedral and caught a boat along the River Seine for a look at the town from the riverside. And jumped off at the Champs Elysees where we found this fellow completing a bicycle race.

Well I am not sure he was actually in the race but he was the first guy on a bicycle we saw on the course so in my books that makes him the winner, but I guess the rules of the Tour de France are a little different and the gang of cyclists in the pictures below (the pics below didn’t publish so maybe when we get home) came ripping by and must of passed him before he got to the finish line a couple of hundred yards away from us. And like that bullet train we were on these guys fly, they tell me they were traveling uphill towards the Arc De Triomphe at 60 km/hour (36mph) and coming back down at speeds up to 80 km/hour (50mph). Now this isn’t a big hill, I know because we strolled up there and never really even noticed the hill. But I guess when you get to the last couple of kilometers of a 3479 km, 23 day bike ride you are in pretty good shape and can really boogie along.

Of course after all this strenous bike riding that was being done right in front of our very eyes we need to get some sustenance in us and it really wouldn’t be a trip to Paris if we didn’t indulge in a Crepe or two would it.

The top was dinner and the bottom was dessert and as you can tell I had to taste them to make sure they were worthy of getting in the blog before I took the photo’s. Let me say there was nothing left on the plates when I was done and it was only the fact that we were in a crowded restaurant that prevented me from licking my plate clean.

Now the one thing we heard over and over when we told folks we were coming to France was some concerns about the French hospitality. I am hear to tell you we have been treated royally by everyone we have dealt with here. We got here hardly knowing how to do more than say hello and thank you and each and every person we have met has helped us to understand things and were excited to teach us new words and explain things to us. Heck tonight I ordered my dinner in French and and can even get the key to our room without resorting to sign language. Don’t get me wrong I am not going to be doing the play by play for the Montreal Canadiens or anything but I won’t starve to death either. All in all our Parisian adventure has been a highlight of our trip.