Cuteness and thunder

August 7, 2008 -- My husband Tom loves ice cream -- really good ice cream.  One morning, I passed a cute place that advertised -- on its awnings and windows -- that it serves Berthillon ice cream, which is the very best kind.  I don't understand why Häagen-Dazs came to Paris; it isn't needed, because Berthillon is here.

Another fine building designed by Lavirotte.
This one is on the Rue de Grenelle.

I say this place with the Berthillon is cute because it has all the quintessentially Parisian cute things, like old carved wood paneling, a mosaic tile floor, comfy woven wicker chairs outdoors, curved wood chairs indoors, and Lalique light fixtures dangling from the fancy coffered ceiling.   And it is located on the terribly cute Rue Cler.  Here are some photos.

When I passed by the place again early this morning, the chairs were still being set up and the floor was being mopped.  So, no photos of Le Petit Cler by me -- yet.

Some afternoon, soon, Tom and I will stroll up the Avenue de la Motte-Picquet, right past the Häagen-Dazs and the Starbucks, to Le Petit Cler where we will have Tea Time/Happy Hour  --  with ice cream for Tom.

Today, thank God, is the last day of the heat wave.  Tonight will be warm, too, but then tomorrow, the high temperature will be only 80 degrees F -- according to Accuweather.

Yesterday, Tom ventured out in the morning to have his hair cut at Look Coiffeur on the decidedly non-trendy and not-cute Rue de la Croix Nivert.  He's been getting summertime haircuts at Look for twenty years.  The men who work there are all from North Africa.  I doubt that a woman has ever set foot in the place.  The price is right: just 13 euros for a haircut.  Tom's favorite barber was on duty, so he was pleased and he was neatly shorn.

The plain and simple Passage de la Vierge connects Rue Cler to Avenue Bosquet.
It is named for the Rue de la Vierge, which it used to abut.  That street was
eliminated when the Haussmannian Avenue Bosquet was created in the 1870s.
The Rue de la Vierge was named for the Chapel of the Virgin, which is now
the Eglise Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou.

Tom came home for lunch and a siesta, and then it was time for him to see his doctor, Nancy Salzman, up at the far end of Avenue Lowendal (routine appointment; nothing serious).  His appointment time was at 3:30PM, so he was walking at the hottest time of the day.  I stayed home and read.

I'd made a dinner reservation at a Thai place on Rue Fremicourt because it has good reviews and advertises that it is air conditioned.  We arrived and, voila!  No air conditioning, even at 92 degrees outside.  Tom had been so hot in the afternoon that a.c. was a requirement for dinnertime.  I explained to the server/hostess that we had expected air conditioning.  She and the rest of the staff seemed apologetic and a bit embarrassed.  We apologized (why?) and departed.  Then we returned to Pietro Commerce, where we were welcomed and we were comfortable.

This afternoon, a thunderstorm is predicted.  I do so love a good thunderstorm!  Bring it on.