Paris Day 1

We arrived bright and early and on time (8:45 a.m.) in Paris.  We took the RER and arrived at the apartment at11:00 a.m.   It was a beautiful fall day heading to a high of 17C.  As the cleaning hadn't been done yet, we dropped the luggage and headed out to get something to eat.

The courtyard of our apartment complex

View of kitchen in our studio apartment with three windows- lots of light

We went to one of our favourite caf és on Rue Monge - La Strada- for lunch of a red-pepper soup and humous tartine and good coffee.

Inside of Strada Café

Outside of Strada Café

We walked down to Eric Kayser bakery to get a baguette, passing the wonderful Merveilleux bakery. 

Too wonderful to eat

We passed many wonderful Haussmann buildings--many with the longer wrought iron railings on the second and fifth floors.

We saw some signage for Nuit Blanche, which in Paris takes place on the first Saturday in October- this year on October 7. 

We stopped at one of our favourite cheese shops- Laurent Dubois to get some wonderful sheep cheese.  Outside the wine shop next store, they were doing a beer tasting.  We sampled the beer and bought a bottle as well as a bottle of wine.

Laurent Dubois cheese and beer tasting on the barrel outside the wine store

Alain and Grace later got treats at a bakery that clearly indicated its pastries were made by them.

We headed back to Rue Mouffetard to get some provisions, passing a wonderful building on Rue Monge with flower pots on the wall.  Still lots of greenery and flowers in the early fall in Paris.

Flower pots on wall

We returned to the apartment at around 2:30 p.m., just as the cleaning was finishing.  We unpacked and then at about 4:00, headed out again.  We stopped at Grom, one of my favourite Italian gelato stores and I had some chocolate extraordinaire and pear sorbetto.

With my Grom sorbetto

We walked along the Seine, passing some of the bouquanistes - an ever dwindling number selling used books and magazines.

One of the Bouquinistes along the Seine.

Our destination for the early evening was Shakespeare & Company, the famous English speaking bookstore that has been operated by the Whitman family since the 1950s.  George Whitman died at 98 in 2011 and the bookstore is now run by his daughter Sylvia.  We went to a discussion and reading by a young American writer, Joshua Cohen.  He has written a number of books and the latest is Moving Kings.  It turned out that Alain's sister and brother-in-law from Philadelphia are very good friends with close friends of Joshua's parents.  He is a very talented and bright author, featured recently in the Granta Magazine edition of the best young American writers.  He was interviewed by one of the staff.  We will definitely be reading Moving Kings.

Outside of Shakespeare and Company

Great writings on the wall of the bookstore

Inside- waiting for the chairs to be set up 

Joshua Cohen discussing Moving Kings

After the reading, we went to 5e Cru on Rue Cardinal Lemoine, for a wonderful charcuterie plate, some cheese and some wine.   The owner is the wine list and once one tells him the kind of wine one likes, he brings over the appropriate bottles and pours you a glass.

Grace and Alain at 5e Cru

A wonderful charcuterie plate and cheese

Then it was back to the apartment and a deep sleep.