Along the avenues on a long summer day

The École Militaire (Military School, or war college) was pockmarked with old bullet wounds and plagued by rotting window frames when we first started summering in Paris (1998).  The grounds were tattered patches of weeds, even though somebody evidently cared for the red rose bushes in front of the complex's façade along the Avenue de la Motte Picquet.

I was perplexed by this state of decay in what is clearly a historically important compound.

The top of the main entryway to the École Militaire.

Then several years ago, the work began.  The interior courtyard and façades, which you can see from the Avenue de Lowendal, were the first to be restored.  Then the fence was made to shine again.

In the past few years, the southwest part of the main structure has been enveloped in scaffolding while it underwent a rebirth.

The main entryway to the École Militaire, on the Avenue de la Motte Picquet.

Then the grand main entrance on the Avenue de la Motte Picquet was shrouded and restored.

Now, finally, all that scaffolding has been removed from that southwest portion and the northeast part of the main structure is now engulfed in new scaffolding.

The main entrance caught my eye yesterday.  It is positively gleaming.  I especially admire the handsome doors.

The main entryway doors to the École Militaire.

Maybe in just a few more years, the entire École Militaire will be perfect, and it will rise to its challenge as the other anchor, opposite the majestic Eiffel Tower, on an end of the Champ de Mars.

We went walking earlier in the afternoon than we expected.  We'd been working hard, and then Tom received the sad news about the death of one of his closest friends, Chris.  While we knew Chris was seriously ill, we did not expect the end to be so near.  The world will miss this wonderfully smart, gentle, and kind man.

Work was then abandoned.   We walked out into the sunshine for comfort.  I could sense the grace of God in this beautiful day.

We strolled along the Avenue de Suffren and the Avenue de Ségur, littered with sparkling dots of sun amid lacy shadows from the tree canopy overhead.  The streets were calm and uncrowded.  We passed by a couple of favorite restaurants.

I've always liked the jolly face carved above the doorway on this apartment building on the Avenue de Suffren. 
The European Space Agency is in the background on the left of this photo. 
The scooter and bike are rentals that you can just scan, using an app on your phone, and then you can go.
These things are everywhere now.  The scooters go dangerously fast, and the folks on them generally do not wear helmets!

Then, up ahead on the Avenue de Ségur, we could see lots of police and police vehicles.  When we were closer, I could see that the police were wearing heavy protective vests.  Then we heard demonstrators chanting as they marched up the Avenue Dusquesne or Avenue Breteuil.  The police had the roads leading to the École Militaire and Les Invalides totally barricaded.

I told Tom that I wanted to turn around and go back the other way, away from this confrontation that was about to happen.  But Tom wanted to wait and see what was going on.  We hesitated long enough to see the head of the demonstrators' parade.  The banners clearly marked the group as members of the national trade union group, the CGT (Confédération générale du travail).  It is one of the top two labor union organizations in France, with a little over 700,000 members.

We did turn back before any confrontation could occur.  "That's how you live a long life," I explained to Tom while insisting that we leave.  When I see police in riot gear, I do not want to be there.

So we walked around to the Avenue de Lowendal and up to our favorite brasserie, La Terrasse.  There we had our afternoon tea (actually, sparkling water for both, espresso for Tom, glass of wine for me, and ice cream for Tom).  I just love that place because it is elegant and comfortable at the same time, and it is dependably good.  We feel welcome there.

When we were totally relaxed, we walked back to the apartment.  A couple hours later, we emerged to walk to dinner at Madame Claude, just off the Avenue de la Motte Picquet.

Dinner was delightful, beginning with a lobster salad that we shared (photo below).  It was a surprising mix of veggies like peas and sprouts, with a generous appetizer portion of fresh lobster.

Tom's sautéed veal with sticky rice and my chicken with morel mushroom sauce and puréed potatoes were excellent.  With the 40 percent discount from Lafourchette.com, the price was acceptable; it would have been pricey for what it was, without that discount.

Sautéed veal

Chicken with morel mushroom sauce and potato purée.

Dessert was a chocolate and fruit concoction, which we shared.

This would not have been a good place to go in a heat wave, but on a delightful evening like yesterday's, it was comfortable enough.

Back at the apartment, we enjoyed sitting on the balcony for the first time this year.  We have a small but mighty marble and iron bistro table out there, along with a couple metal ice-cream-parlor-like chairs.  Sit on one side of the table and you can watch the sunset over and in between the towers of the Front de Seine.  Sit on the other side, and you see the warm sunset glow bathe the apartment buildings and the old theater building on our block.

Not a bad way to end of one these lovely, long summer days in Paris.

The blind leading the blind -- to reading

At Friday night's dinner, the food was ordinary but the company was extraordinary.  We were dining with our dear friends Ron and Elisabeth at La Boussole, in the 6th arrondissement, just off the Place Saint Sulpice.  They told us about their adventures over the past year, including taking a cruise ship from New York to Marseille -- one of those re-positioning cruises -- in March.  It was a joy to see them.  We hope they will come to see us on Sanibel Island next March.

The fountain on Place Saint Sulpice.

Inside the church of Saint Sulpice.

Before we arrived at their apartment, we walked all the way from the 15th.  Along the way, we saw (at a slight distance) a demonstration; people were marching up the Avenue Duquesne, probably headed toward the Hotel Matignon, headquarters of the French prime minister on the Rue Varenne.  We couldn't tell what they were demonstrating about, but it looked as if many were carrying newspapers or posters featuring a photograph of an African leader.

When we were in the 6th, we paused to see the great fountain in Place Saint Sulpice, and to make a brief visit inside the magnificent church of the same name.  A small choir was chanting back in the chapel at the end of the sanctuary, filling the vast space with beautiful harmony.

After dinner, we took a taxi home and slept well.

Old doorway for the Valentin Haüy Association.

Yesterday we walked over to the Breteuil area again, this time to check out the open air market on the Avenue de Saxe.  This market is usually extensive, because there is ample space for it in the middle of this broad avenue.  But with August vacation time, many of the spaces for stalls were empty.  Tom said he liked it that way; there wasn't such a hectic crowd to walk through. 

We sat on a bench in the park in the middle of the Avenue Breteuil while we considered our next move.  I just had to see where the Valentin Haüy Association was, as well as the old school for blind children.  We paused first at the far end of the Avenue de Saxe where a new Hilton Hotel is going into three buildings, set to open next year.  Construction is ongoing.  One of the three buildings that the 118-room four-star hotel will occupy is an interesting and grand old government/institutional building of some kind.  I haven't yet discerned its history.

Continuing on to Rue Duroc, we were surprised to see that we were passing the headquarters of the PRG, the Parti Radicale de Gauche.  This seems like such a quiet and conservative neighborhood, but you never know . . . .

Doorway of the Parti Radicale de Gauche.

And then we found the Valentin Haüy Association.  At the corner of Boulevard des Invalides and Rue Duroc, the Association operates a shop that sells so many things that make life easier for blind and visually impaired people.  We gazed at the gadgets that we could see in the shop windows; it was closed at the time.

Continuing around the corner, we found the great old school for the blind, where Louis Braille invented braille by age 16. He actually presented his system to his peers for the first time in 1824, when he was 15.  A military code created by Captain Charles Barbier gave Braille the inspiration for his tactile system for reading.  Braille redesigned and streamlined the symbols used in Barbier's system.  Interestingly, he used a leather awl -- the tool that had blinded him in a childhood accident -- to make the embossed dots.

Louis Braille was a star pupil at the school for the blind, and he went on to become a teacher there.  His braille system for reading was not widely adopted until after his death, which came at the young age of 43, perhaps from tuberculosis.  Two years later, the braille system was finally adopted at the school.

The National Institute for Blind Youth -- the old school for the blind.

I was surprised that there was no historical marker on Boulevard des Invalides, near the school's entrance, to explain the significance of the school and Braille. 

We walked up the Boulevard Dusquesne to La Terrasse, where we had a long but light lunch.  Our table and chairs were so comfortable that we didn't want to leave.  But finally we did.

In the evening, we had a lovely and simple dinner at Le Café du Commerce, right behind our building.  And so it goes . . . .

Le Café du Commerce

The sweet 7th

August 14, 2017 – The way to spend a beautiful Sunday in mid-August on the left bank of Paris is to amble along the streets of the 7^th arrondissement.  Frenzied Parisian drivers are away on vacation in the countryside or at the shore; the streets are as calm and quiet as they will ever be.  Mobs of tourists are nowhere to be found except at the Eiffel Tower.  Just avoid that place, and you will have a fine, mellow day fit for the dedicated flaneur.  You can relax, go at your own pace, not be pushed by the flow of people on the sidewalk, allow yourself to be delighted by the wonders – big and small – that you happen to see.

We zig-zagged our way through the 7^th, from rue Cler north to the Seine, from the Champ de Mars to the Esplanade des Invalides. 

An unnamed former church that we saw on our way from the rue Cler to the rue Malar.

An attractive gateway and courtyard on the rue de Grenelle.

Mosaic in the doorway to a day care center.

Entrance to the St. John Lutheran church complex on the rue de Grenelle.

A delightful building designed by Lavirotte (above and below) on the rue de Grenelle.

The Hotel de la Tulipe looks like a country inn.  Rumor is, it was a convent before
it became a hotel.  It is located on the rue Malar in the 7th.

Madame Rhodriguez's jewelry shop window on the rue de Grenelle.
When she returns from vacation, I just might buy the earrings in the middle.
She designs and makes the jewelry herself.

Before our walk, Tom and I had a Sunday afternoon dinner at La Terrasse.  We were delighted to be seated in the spacious upstairs dining room.  For a long time, I've wanted to see that space.  It is uncrowded, and affords a panoramic view of the Place de l'Ecole Militaire.  

Tom enjoyed watching a French family of six enjoying their Sunday dinner together.  The kids were so utterly well behaved.  Like them, we took hours to enjoy our mid-day dinner there -- six escargots, a Thai shrimp salad, chicken supreme with pureed potatoes, apple pie, fresh fruit, espresso and cafe creme.  It was all delightful and delicious.

We ended the day with a walk up to the Champ de Mars, where we just sat on a bench and watched people as the day faded into dusk.  Sweet Paris.

A weekend of walking through Paris

Parc Monceau

July 17, 2017 – The lines 6 and 2 of the Paris metro when put together, form a perfect oval around the heart of the city.  Line 6 offers a great view in its southwestern stretch, where it is an elevated train over a part of Paris that was a swamp, a long time ago. 

On Saturday, we took the 6 to Etoile, where we switched to the 2 and disembarked at Monceau, the beautiful park created in 1861 in the northern part of the 8^th arrondissement – one of the chic residential areas of Paris.

After a long, leisurely stroll through the park, which was being heavily appreciated by many families on that gorgeous weekend, we paused to stare at the magnificent mansion just on the edge of the park, at 5 rue Van Dyck.  Where does the money come from to build a house like this?

Peering through the gate at the side of the mansion at 5 rue Van Dyk

In this case, it came from chocolate.  Jean-Antoine Menier, a chocolate maker from the Seine et Marne area, made medications based on chocolate in the 1800s.  In 1836, he created the first chocolate bar (tablette de chocolat).  It was wrapped in yellow paper.

His son, Emile-Justin Menier, took the helm and received a gold medal for “pharmaceutical products” at the Universal Exposition.  Emile successfully expanded the business, buying 1500 hectares in Nicaragua so he could mitigate the fluctuations of the cacao market.  He had a new mill built to modernize his factory in the Seine et Marne area.  The mill was unusual and beautiful:  a metal structure with a multi-color brick exterior, completed in 1872.  By 1876, the factory was producing 7,600 tons of chocolate annually.

The straw gorilla in this flower bed at Parc Monceau is wearing a tank top
that promotes Paris as a site for the 2024 Olympics

From 1872 to 1874, he had his own house built facing the Parc Monceau.  The luxurious carvings on the exterior walls give the home an opulence unmatched by other houses in the neighborhood.  This architectural gem is not open to the public; it is now divided into a few large apartments.

We walked on through the park, exiting at the rue Rembrandt, then descending the hill on rue Courcelles.  We saw that the grand, formerly crumbling church of St. Philippe de Roule is undergoing a massive renovation, including a rebuilding of its roof.  What looks like a Butler building has been constructed over the entire top of the church.  This is quite a production!

We continued our descent to the Champs Elysees along the rue La Boetie.  The crowd along that celebrated avenue was thick.  We somehow made our way across it, and then followed the rue Pierre Charron and avenue George V to the Seine.  We noticed that people have been putting those awful love locks on the chain surrounding the flame sculpture by the Pont de l’Alma – what has become the memorial to Princess Diana.  I do so wish that love lock fad would go away!

Shinto gothic house in the 8th arrondissement.

When we crossed the Seine and were passing by the Russian Orthodox church and cultural center, its bells began to ring.  I didn’t know it had bells!  They aren’t visible.  Perhaps they are in the golden domes?

After a stroll down the avenue Bosquet, we stopped in at the comfortable brasserie La Terrasse for refreshments.  Then it was just a short stroll home.

In the evening, I used lafourchette.com to reserve a table at O Fil Rouge.  There we had a terrific dinner.  The owner recognized us, even though I don’t think we made it there last summer.  I highly recommend this restaurant, located a bit out of the way on the rue St. Charles near the rue Ginoux.

Yesterday we took the line 6 to Denfert Rochereau, the place where you can begin a tour of the Paris catacombs.  Instead, we remained above ground to walk along the beautiful avenue René Coty.  This boulevard is blessed with a shady pedestrian central walkway – a great place to walk on a warm afternoon.

Walking on the avenue Rene Coty

We walked all the way to the Parc Montsouris (“Mouse Mountain”) in the southeastern corner of the 14^th arrondissement.  After we’d toured the park, we walked back up the avenue René Coty, pausing to use one of the brand new Wallace Fountains.  Unlike the old Wallace Fountains which run continuously, the new ones have a button that you push to make the water flow.  Tom discovered that the secret is that you have to push the button really hard to make it work.

A new Wallace Fountain, on the avenue Rene Coty.

We turned toward home on the rue d’Alesia, stopping to visit the church of Saint-Pierre de Montrouge.  The church's architect, Emile Vaudremer, created a simple yet grand church -- one of the first in a style known as Roman Primitive.  Displays in the back of the church indicate that it has a sizeable staff and lots of programs.  This is an active parish.

Church of Saint-Pierre de Montrouge

The rue d'Alesia becomes the rue Vouille and then the rue de la Convention in the 15^th arrondissement.  Right where it becomes rue de la Convention, we stopped at the Tasco brasserie for refreshments.  This included sharing a piece of homemade tiramisu which was very delicious.

From there, we walked up the rue de l’Abbé Groult to our neighborhood where we stopped to buy groceries at the Carrefour City on our street.  I miss the Dia discount grocery that Carrefour City replaced, but I do appreciate Carrefour for being open on Sunday.

Scenes in the Parc Montsouris

In the evening, we dressed up and walked to La Gauloise for a fine steak dinner.  Mostly I eat fish and vegetables for dinner these days; last night was a notable exception.  The beef filet at La Gauloise is reliably tender and perfectly cooked.  It comes with an impossibly large serving of great fries.  I can only eat a small part of that mountain of fries, but Tom really attacked his.  We skipped the starter course and dessert.

What we love about La Gauloise is not just the food; it is the plush ambiance.  We were able to sit at our favorite table, just inside the front window which was open to the terrace.  La Gauloise is convenient, too -- only a ten- minute walk from our apartment.

So ended a weekend of walking – about 20,000 steps each day.

Paris, en famille

The Champ de Mars -- a peaceful place to walk.

July 4, 2017 --  A morning walk on the Champ de Mars by myself is energizing.  The Champ is halfway overtaken with the set-up for two events.  One of them is “Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping,” an equestrian show that took place on July 1 and 2.  I’m not sure what the other event will be; it involves many small square tents with peaked tops.

The Peace Pavilion, at the war college end of the Champ, is now inaccessible for “security reasons,” and is waiting for future work and renovation, according to the web site at equipement.paris.fr

Merry-go-round set up for the Paris Jumping event

A large section of the Champ fenced off for the Paris Jumping event.

Speaking of security, the jazz concert that we had planned to attend on July 1st in the Luxembourg Gardens was cancelled because the authorities would not allow any large trucks inside the Gardens’ fence (for security reasons).  The band was going to have to move all their sound equipment, etc., 250 meters from the truck to the bandstand.  The band elected to cancel the concert instead.  I don’t blame them.

In spite of the tents, bleachers, fencing, and barriers, I still had a lovely walk in the Champ because it is vast, and large parts of the park have not been affected by all this equipment.  There, peace and calm rules.

Even the “do you speak English” scammers didn’t bother me.  They seemed to be squabbling amongst themselves – perhaps about some territorial issue.  Shortly after I passed them, two bicycle-riding policemen passed me, evidently headed for the scammers.  I did not go back to see what happened.

Instead, I walked on to gaze at flowerbeds and broad, shady walkways.

Flowers on the Champ de Mars

In the middle of the day, Maria the cleaning lady came, and our granddaughters and Dan (my step-son) also arrived from the airport.  Dan and the girls (Olivia and Sarah) were jet-lagged and hungry, so we fed them a very French brunch while trying to stay out of Maria’s way.  That was a little chaotic, but we had a great time talking around the dining table for an hour.  Part of that time, I asked the girls about books they’ve read.  I was impressed; they’ve read many of the classics.  Sarah boasted that she got an A in math.  School is of great interest to them. 

Then we cleared out of the apartment, leaving Maria to do her thing, while we walked around the neighborhood, through the Saint Lambert park and then to the AirBNB studio apartment where Dan is staying on the rue de l’Abbé Groult. 

Painter attracts attention at the corner of the rues Theatre and Commerce.

The girls are staying with us, upstairs in the maid’s room.

The five of us shopped for groceries at FranPrix.  It is rare to see an entire family shopping together in a Paris grocery store.  But we did, and now our little refrigerator is very full.  Kitchens and refrigerators are small here.

After Dan and the girls rested and Tom and I watched the Tour de France on TV, we all went for another walk, this time up to the Seine.   We walked along the riverbank for a little while.  The girls were tired and hungry again, so we walked back to La Terrasse brasserie and had a good dinner en famille. 

A pretty passage near the rue de l'Abbe Groult.

It was fun to watch the girls consume large hamburgers and then crêpes, stuffed with a layer of Nutella.  We all shared a paté foie gras as a starter course.  Dan also had one of his all-time favorite dishes:  escargots.  As usual, Tom had a beef carpaccio with fries and salad.  Dan had noisettes d’agneau – lamb medallions.  I had a simple but beautifully poached piece of salmon with a little rice.  Tom and Dan shared a baba au rhum for dessert.

We let the girls taste red wine.  They didn’t like it much; they’re now 16 years old.  Olivia likes to walk and talk with me when we go on these outings; during our conversation on the way home, she asked me several times how far it was to the apartment.  Most of the time, she notices things around us and says, enthusiastically, “That’s really cool!”  They both retired to the maid’s room soon after we got home, and they’re sleeping late this morning.  I think they’ll really be ready for Paris this afternoon.

Celebrating a birthday in Paris

June 25, 2017 --  The weather was gorgeous:  blue sky, puffy little white clouds, cool enough to wear real shoes and socks, and warm enough to wear a T-shirt and no jacket.  Our goal was to walk along the Seine, perhaps all the way to the Jardin des Plantes.

Getting started was a challenge, because we were distracted by the abundant shopping opportunities.  Tom needs things:  shoes, a blazer, etc.  The aptly named Rue du Commerce has things -- not touristy things, but real things, that people really need.

Clothing and wares were being displayed out on the sidewalk in front of many shops.  We were witnessing the weekend of a Rue du Commerce street fair -- something that we remember attending years ago.  We usually are not in Paris until July.  This year is different from most; we're experiencing June.

Street fair at one end of the Rue du Commerce.

Yesterday was Tom's 75th birthday.  So we shopped for him.  First we looked at an entire rack of men's walking shoes out on the sidewalk.  He seriously considered one pair, but decided to wait.  "Maybe I'll try gluing my old shoes together one more time," he said.  I replied, "Well, maybe you could take them to the shoe repair place on our street."

We are guilty of being frugal, but we also know how to stimulate the economy in our own meager way.  We moved on to the Celio shop, a place where we'd purchased a rain jacket for Tom in the past.

Celio's prices are good, and so there were a number of people shopping there.  I'm always wary of empty shops, or shops where there are no French people spending money.  We knew right where the blazers were.  Within a few minutes of perusing them, a salesman cheerily swept by to welcome us and point out where the mirrors were as Tom was about to try on the first blazer.

Weirdly, these blazers were marked S, M, L, and XL for the sizes.  Clearly they were made for an English speaking market.  But that market must have been for very small English speakers.  I'm not sure where in the world that would be.  Tom, after his illnesses a year and a half to two years ago, is not large.  He is quite medium -- a 40 regular kind of guy.  Knowing these blazers would probably run small, he tried a Large.  Nope.  Large was too small.  There was only one XL in black.  He tried it, and it fit beautifully, but the sleeves were a little too long. Tom has unusually long arms, so he didn't expect this anomaly.

The price was amazing:  30 percent off of 49.99!  Tom was going to buy it and just make do with the slightly long sleeves.  I encouraged him to buy it, and then go to the tailor across from our building to have the sleeves shortened.  Tom didn't want to spend the money.  I said, "Even if it costs 35 euros to alter the blazer, it is still worth it, and you'll feel better wearing it if the sleeves are the right length."

When I convinced him that it couldn't hurt to ask, we backtracked around the corner, onto the Rue du Theatre, and entered the tailor's shop.

This was a Saturday, but yes, the shop was open.  The tailor and his friend were sitting around with not much to do.  We'd shopped there before; I bought a suede jacket there once, and had the sleeves shortened by the tailor.  Leather seems to be a specialty at this plain little shop/workshop.

Quickly and professionally, the tailor pinned up one of the jacket sleeves to mark the proper length.  Tom asked "how much?" in French.  Twenty-five euros was the answer!  And the finished blazer will be ready on Monday afternoon.  I love customized, quick service!

View of the Eiffel Tower and garden at the Musee du Quai Branly.

Off we went again, making our way successfully this time, to the end of the Rue du Commerce and up to the Avenue de la Bourdonnais, where I checked out a little shoe store that advertises on Google that it carries Skechers.  Alas, the little shop did not have my size.  We walked on to the garden at the Musee du Quai Branly.

The garden is more lush and green than ever.  The foliage and exotic grasses are wildly growing together.  The place reminds us of South Florida, but better.

We were both hungry, so we stepped into the cafe facing the garden.  Tom consumed a dish of rich ice cream, which almost had to be Berthillon.  I ate a salad with wonderful goat cheese.  Fortified, we left the garden, crossed the quai, and walked down to the banks of the Seine.

The throngs of pedestrians there grew thicker and thicker as we walked.  We saw that this was the second of two "Olympic Days" for which a large assortment of games were set up for all, young and old, to play.  Ping pong was a popular one.

When we reached the far side of the Pont Alexandre III, we looked up and saw two colorful diving platforms set up on the bridge.  At twenty minutes before 3PM, people were starting to gather, looking up at the platforms.   We decided to join them to watch the divers.  After we'd waiting several minutes, a large screen behind us illuminated with a video explanation of the event about to take place.  The divers would not be diving, but rather working their way down long pieces of fabric, doing acrobatics along the way.

Acrobatic "diver" leaving one of the platforms on the Pont Alexandre III.

Finally, at 3PM, a diver appeared.  She was an athletic-looking young woman in a red one-piece swimsuit.  She performed her act to the amplified sound of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  Slowly, she lowered herself along the lengths of fabric, wrapping them this way and that, around her body, as she pivoted, twirled, did somersaults, etc.  I can't say that the "choreography" had anything to do with the Four Seasons, but it was interesting -- much like what circus acrobats have been doing for many years.

As we stood there, I became slightly uncomfortable as people standing near me pressed into my space.  When the first act was almost over, I turned to Tom, who was standing behind me.  Then I saw that the crowd behind us had grown tremendously.  There were no spaces between people.  The entire space was full of humans who had no room to move.

After the lady in the red suit finished and the Four Seasons had concluded, Tom and I decided to try to make our way out of the crowd.  Fortunately, some other people decided to try to leave, too.  At first, nobody could move.  That was truly frightening.  Everyone stayed calm, however, and eventually, there was a little movement this way, and a little movement that way.  It took twenty minutes or more, but finally, Tom and I were moving.  We almost got separated at one point, but soon all was well again, and we continued our walk on toward Notre Dame.

As a general rule, we avoid crowds.  The Olympic Days crowd was one nobody would have predicted.

The Seine, looking toward the Ile de la Cite.

We'd been on our feet for hours, so we rested a few times on old limestone benches.  At last, we were across from Notre Dame on the left bank, gazing up as we walked at the cathedral's lacy grandeur.

Across from the far end of the church, we climbed the steps to the street level, crossed the quai, and started walking down the rue Maitre Albert when we saw the perfect sidewalk cafe for pausing for beverages on the rue des Grands Degres.  So, pause we did, for a bottle of sparkling water to share, coffee for Tom and a glass of chardonnay for me.  The large, garrulous man sitting at the table next to us was evidently the owner of the place.  He was consuming mussels from a big red pot which was accompanied by a small mountain of fries.  The man periodically dumped fries into the pot.

We finished our beverages, paid the tab, left a pour boire (a couple euros), said good-day  to the garrulous man, and went on our way down the Rue Maitre Albert to the line 10 metro at Place Maubert Mutualite.

Quaint old storefront on the Rue des Grands Degres.

Soon we were back at the apartment, where we rested up for the next adventure:  Tom's birthday dinner at La Gauloise.

While we were resting, we heard drums.  Something musical was happening at the street fair, six stories below.  The sound of the drums grew louder.  Then there was music with the drums.  We walked out on our balcony and looked down.  Soon, a colorful group of Brazilian musicians and dancers appeared at the intersection, where they paused and the dancers showed off their flamboyant garb and exotic moves.

I told Tom I'd ordered the girl dancers and the drum line for this birthday.  I wish I had thought of it.

Brazilian dancers and musicians on the Rue due Commerce and Rue du Theatre.

Dinner was at La Gauloise -- one of our longtime, favorite, traditional Parisian restaurants.  The classic interior of the restaurant was half full of families having dinner together.  They were all French.  Just like when we had lunch at the Trois Garcons brasserie the day before, we did not hear any English being spoken in the restaurant.

Dinner was simple and elegant.  We skipped the starters and Tom ordered a thick, juicy filet of beef in a nice black pepper sauce, accompanied by a small salad.  My main course was a filet of dorade royale (golden sea bream) accompanied by Spring vegetables.  We each had an outstanding souffle Grand Marnier.

I mentioned the lunch we had on the 23rd at the Trois Garcons brasserie on the rue de la Croix Nivert.  My dish was fish and veggies there, too:  a slightly seared piece of red tuna with marinated, thin, crispy slices of beets, fancy radishes, and a few cucumbers.  The dish was colorful and delicious.  Tom had a slate of mixed charcuterie -- so copious that he sneaked some of it away into folded paper napkin, then into a shopping bag to take home.

Wallace Fountain near the Trois Garcons brasserie.

That outing on the 23rd was our first daytime adventure for this summer, even though we arrived in Paris on the 21st.  The first two days were consumed by an oppressive heat wave and episode of pollution (bad ozone).  We just hibernated, unpacked, and recovered from jet lag during those two days.  Oh, we did manage to go out for supplies at the grocery, fromagerie, and bakery, but we know better than to try to go traipsing about normally during a heat wave in Paris.

And we had a nice dinner at La Terrasse as the weather was breaking on the evening of the 22nd.  I had a perfectly juicy and tender duck breast with vegetables and Tom consumed a beef carpaccio with salad.  Service was so professional and the ambiance was so Parisian.  It was a good way to start.

Amazingly, the weather became suddenly much better on Friday, without any noticeable storm front.  And so it goes -- all seems to be well in Paris now.