Today was a great day! We continued burning the candle at both ends, but we didn't neglect to stop and smell the flowers. Our plan was to walk along the Seine to the Botanical Garden, then meander back through the Latin Quarter to the Luxembourg Gardens and back to the hotel to refresh before heading to the art museums and shopping.
I got out early and had a cafe au lait and a croissant next door, but then I saw a Parisian hot dog so I got that too - it’s substantial! It's on a long cheesy bun, with the frank split and laid almost end to end, and loaded up with melted cheese and rosemary. It was pretty good! I also noted the plastic-free disposable plates and cups, and no straws. The French are considerably better about caring for Mother Earth than we are in the United States. I like to get out early so I can catch up on my notes and see the city before it gets too crowded.
As planned, we set out eastward along the Seine to start. In that area there are sellers of books and prints with stalls established all along the river. Its colorful and you can get a quick introduction to French popular culture by browsing the titles and the prints that are on offer. Along the way Lorna and Melissa got breakfast at the Cafe La Bûcherie, then we continued toward the Jardin des Plantes, the Sorbonne, and the Quartier Latin. There was a colorful Mexican joint where we got Tamarind juice and a restroom. The Sorbonne wasn't much to see if you don't know what's there. It's not beautiful, and everyone around is was busy going to one place or another in haste.
But the the Jardin des Plantes was very nice! There the spring flowers were already gone by, but the roses were excellent and we were surprised to see an enclosure with some wallabies. There are some more animals there, but not a lot - it's not a zoo, so it was kind of strange to see wallabies hanging out in the shade without a whole menagerie of animal companions.
By this time it was late morning and we'd already walked a lot, so we were hot. We got very good ice cream from a vendor named Louise: Les Glaces: sweet cream and lemon meringue for me, coffee for Lorna, something berry for Melissa, and raspberry for an impatient little boy waiting with his grateful mom.
Not far away we visited the beautiful Grand Mosque. It's a gorgeous building with fine stonework and mosaic work, and it has a beautiful and peaceful indoor garden. Across the street is a little micro-park, where Melissa saw a parrot!
We walked back through the Quartier Latin, past the Pantheon to the Jardin du Luxembourg. The Luxembourg Gardens is a large, central park with gardens and sculptures along shady paths. There were many people enjoying the ample sunshine and pleasant temperatures.
Eventually we headed back to the hotel with a brief, expensive stop at Bijoux Cocktails, a jeweler. It's not like Tiffany or Van Cleef and Arpels that we had seen the other day over by the Place Vendome; This jeweler has a sense of whimsy, with pretty eye-catching displays and plenty of color and texture. Lorna and Melissa had fun selecting a prize from amount the many fun pieces by Léa Stein, while I sat in a thoughtfully-provided "husband chair" out of their way.
After a short rest break back at the hotel, we took a taxi to Galleries Haussmann, where they got out, and then I continued to the Google office to return the loaner laptop, and then to FedEx to ship my roemers.
The Galleries Haussmann is a huge department store in three multi-story buildings very near the Palais Garnier (where we saw the concert on our first night in Paris). It's definitely the expensive part of town. One of the buildings is all women's wear, one is for men ("pour l'homme"), and the third is housewares, gifty stuff, and two floors of the most incredible food court I've ever seen! This is the place to get a bottle of 1899 Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes, if you have 1600 euro burning a hole in your pocket.
After my errands, I rejoined them at the galleries. I told them I'd be shopping for a cassoulet pot and maybe some other cooking gadgets. Naturally they looked for me at the home goods part of the complex, and were surprised to learn that "pour l'homme" is not "for the home"!
But we bumped into each other on the sidewalk so we were back together for the rest of the adventure.
We took a crook of a taxi to the Musee Marmottan, a large collection of Monet paintings. The online hours said they close at 9:00 pm but we arrived at 8:15 and the thug at the door delighted in turning us away. We argued to no avail, so we walked back towards the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up at dusk.
It was a nice walk, not hot and not cool, through a pleasant, quiet neighborhood. Along the way we saw a fine statue of seventeenth-century poet and fabulist Jean de la Fontaine and his enduring character Reynard the Fox. I had read those fables as a child, and my mother had pictures and figurines of Reynard. The statue, out of the way in a pretty little park, reminded me of just how many giants of literature France has produced, but that we overlook in our English-dominated culture. I made a vow to read more French literature, especially since I had enjoyed Prout's sprawling magnum opus so well.
After a while we emerged from the quiet neighborhood into a busier area. We walked to the Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower light up for sunset at at 9:35 PM. The Trocadero is a large square-ish plaza that looks out over the Seine directly toward the Eiffel Tower. It's a great view, and safely away from the crowds around the base of the tower. Across the street is a park in the middle of a busy two-lane traffic circle with cars and bicycles racing around, heedless of pedestrians. We got over there and sat on a pedestal at the base of yet another large monument to which we paid no attention at all.
The tower lit up on time, starting from the bottom. It took a few minutes to get completely lit up. At the top of the hour and at the top of every hour it would do a flashy-glittery sort of light show from the top of the tower, but as it grew darker and thus easier to see the lights, it started to rain lightly, so we did not stay for that light show.
We took a taxi back to the hotel and walked over the bridge and back to dinner at Le Depart Saint-Michel, where Lorna got salmon, I got the traditional Andouillette sausage, and Melissa got a meatless Croque-Monsieur sandwich. The meal was good enough, and we were thoroughly exhausted from the day's adventures so we returned to the hotel and slept like dead people.