Sitting by Saint Sulpice, soaking it in

At last we made it over to the 6th arrondissement on our walk yesterday evening.   We were headed over there the day before, when we were diverted by the demonstrating labor union group.

A van, whimisically painted with watery scenes, near the rue d'Estrées in the 7th.

We found the beginning of the rue de Babylone in the middle of the 7th arrondissment, and off we went, headed directly toward the St. Sulpice church. 

The first interesting sight along the way on the rue de Babylone was La Pagode, a picturesque old movie theatre that, in recent decades, had been allowed to fall into ruin.  We were delighted to see a construction fence and sign announcing that La Pagode is undergoing a complete renovation, inside and out.  Hooray!

Sign announcing the restoration of La Pagode cinema.

We stopped to rest for several minutes in the walled garden named for Catherine Labouré, a Catholic nun who saw visions of the Virgin Mary in the 1830s.  This garden is a public park, much used by the children of the 7th.  We avoided the middle of the park where the children played, and instead rested on a bench in the quiet, deep shade of the grape arbor along the western edge of the park.

Then we were ready to head on into the busy 6th, with all of its tourists and frenzied Parisians.

So there we sat on a bench in the Place Saint Sulpice, gazing up at the church and the clear blue sky.  Tom wanted to eat at the Café de la Mairie, facing the square, so we squeezed into two chairs on the crowded terrace and ordered a light dinner.  We dined as we watched the world go by.

The church of Saint Sulpice, and its fountain (with no water at the moment).

Paris is so much more touristy over there in the 6th.  I love all the ancient buildings there, but I also love the old-but-not-so-ancient architecture of the 15th, where we live in the summer.

After dinner, we made it about half way home by foot, and then we gave up the walking and hailed a taxi at a bus stop.  (In Paris, you may only hail taxis in places where they can safely pull to the curb and stop.  Bus stops are ideal for this.)

Again, the evening was cool and delightful.  No more heat waves for now!