Hello again from Paris!
Today we tried to start the day out right by making a short list of things to accomplish:
- Write a song
- Have lunch at Marche des Enfants Rouges (The covered market in Le Marais)
- Buy butter, eggs, bread, cheese & flowers
- Go for a long walk to take pictures in the neighborhood
- Read & have a glass of wine at a bistro
- Sit and chat in Place des Vosges (neighborhood park)
- Stop by for dinner at Cafe Hugo (we discovered it last night when passing by)
- Try not to nap for 4 hours again...
And believe it or not, this may have been the first entire To Do list that I've ever checked off. The list made for a lovely day with good food and inspiration. I can't remember my last Sunday that was this relaxing for us.
Here's somewhat of a walking tour of our apartment/street:
OUR STAIRWELL /
THE LOBBY (haha) & COURTYARD /
EXIT COURTYARD: LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD /
LOOK UP /
LOOK RIGHT /
LOOK LEFT /
The market today was quite a surprise. We went expecting a grocery market sort of place, and it was really a bunch of food trucks. The individual vendors also had wholesale booths behind their retail booths where you could buy the cheese, cream, pasta etc. for the ravioli you just ate. But we went expecting to buy groceries for the evening, and wound up eating lunch there.
It was really such a pleasant surprise though, I think we'll go again and try a few other vendors. We ended up leaving with some beautiful butter, cheese and eggs, but had to go elsewhere for the bread & flowers.
Ended up finding an open bakery on the way home, and a sweet little flower shop selling these beautiful peonies. I can't wait to see them open all the way up this week.
Our evening at the park was lovely. We brought our books and our journal, and made a little list of our Paris to-do's. I'm hoping the days start moving slower so we can get it all done--somehow these first 3.5 days have FLOWN by.
The Place des Vosges doesn't seem like it will ever get old. Only a 3 minute walk from our apartment, I'm hoping it becomes our little spot to rest and dream and chat. Today we sat by this beautiful fountain:
After we had been sitting for awhile and the sun was beginning to sink behind the buildings, we got up and wandered to Cafe Hugo around the corner. It was our first French cafe experience -- sitting in woven chairs at a marble round-top table, sipping wine and people watching. I love how the French always have both chairs facing the street, even when they're eating with someone. But I particularly love seeing people sitting alone, having a tea or a cigarette with the newspaper. They don't stare at their phones, they sit and enjoy.
I'm hoping to learn something about that while I'm here.
P.S. I've been so embarrassed at my rusty French that I downloaded an app and I've been doing French exercises every night. I'm really hoping that by the time we leave here I'll be a little closer to that old dream of speaking the language well.
Bonsoir!
xo