I am notorious for getting to drag my birthday out as long as possible. This one started in May at Bette's with a home-cooked dinner, some great photo albums and jewelry from Vic. Then Lou sent me a Celtic history book, and I have received several birthday cards. It is all good.
You should know the weather in June for my whole life has always been really nice. There was the June of 2001 in New Orleans that was plagued by a hurricane, but those who loved me, took it in stride and we just carried on. So this year, as the cold and gray of May didn't seem to lift, I got a little nervous. But finally, early last week, the switch was thrown, and the June that I am accustomed to arrived in France.
And this week has been glorius. A friend from XU showed up with her husband, and we had two really entertaining evenings. On Thursday, Pat joined us and we took a boat ride on the Seine to watch the sun set, and see the Eiffel Tower light up as Paris slowly turned on her lights. (This was at 10:00 p.m. because it gets dark so late here!) On Friday, we had dinner at a really great place in the 7th, Cafe Florimund, and a long stroll after that third course, the scrumptious desserts. But Saturday was even better!
Pat and I started the day, "running errands." That is a little tricky in France. Pat's cell phone had just stopped working, our Michelin GPS system was on the fritz, and we needed to get a guidebook to Rome, and return an ill-fitting bike rack. 4 different stores...with 4 different results. We drove to the phone store, and after an hour and a half, had an appointment for someone to come to our house Tuesday to replace the phone...hmmm. We then drove into Paris and parked the car in an underground garage. As we walked to the FNAC, the kind of Best Buy meets Media Play store where we bought the highly touted Michelin GPS computer Dec. 26, that was now not working, I found a great hobo bag for the summer. LOVE IT! The Michelin GPS?? "It will have to be sent back to Michelin and will be repaired in 3 weeks. We will email you when it is ready." Not what we wanted, but progress.
So we head to the English speaking used book store at Odeon - via the Metro. No Rome books, but a cycling in France book...and we picked up lunch along the way. Now, the Metro to the west side of Paris to return the bike rack. That was a hoot. There is an indoor water park there and game arcade. Returning the rack was easy and we bought some handheld compasses.
Now it is about 5:00 p.m. and we are thirsty. We walked to a nearby bus stop to catch a ride back towards center Paris, and chose to get off at St. Germain Des Pres. We sat at a cafe sipping a coke and watching people for an hour, and deciding what to do for dinner. LOVED IT. The weather was great, and there was a brass band in the square. How relaxing. Now we were ready to make the next walk. I suggested Chez Janou for dinner. Pat said, let's walk.
We wandered from St. Germain to St. Michel past Notre Dame and through Isle de St. Louis into the Le Marais. When we arrived at the restaurant they offered us a table inside (the last open table), but I asked to wait for my favorite waiter, who was tickled to hear we wanted to sit with him. We were treated to seats at the bar, fabulous olives and then some tapenade and toast. When our table was ready - we were seated next to a lovely American couple, Elizabeth and her father who were visiting from Chicago. We had a great meal, a really fun server and excellent conversation. After dessert, coffee, and while waiting for the bill, the waiter said, "Come to the bar for the bill." We laughed and all the Americans trooped into the bar where shot glasses with a melon liqueur were set up and waiting. Our waiter, and the other man both poured shots - and then drank them with us. What a HOOOOT! We had laughed all night!
So with our packages we walked back to the car and reminisced about a great day of visiting Paris.
