Bonjour!
Wanted to start with a couple pictures of our flat -
Our second day in Paris dawned cloudy but bright, and now at 4 in the afternoon, it’s quite beautiful and sunny outside! So…up about 6 and into our fancy shower stall – one of those with multiple spigots or sprayers or whatever you call them spraying water everywhere, plus the overhead shower straight down. Lovely water pressure; a bit complicated working the various handles and knobs, but managed in the end. Also gave R a haircut, as he was looking fair to partly shaggy! Then, out and heading for the bus stop towards the Madeleine. As seems to be standard hereabouts, it took us a bus change on Les Champs Elysees to get to the Madelaine, but we got there eventually. We were looking for the Pinacotheque as they were having a special exhibition of Mayan Jade masks that we wanted to see.
Not much of a line for tickets, so we were able to get in right away. Of course “no pictures” – but some of these pieces were lovely! The exhibition traced some of the customs and celebrations of the Mayans from about 800 B.C. to somewhere in the 800’s A.D. Archeologists had, over the years, excavated many Mayan sites (currently in Mexico and Guatemala) and one of the most interesting discoveries were the death masks made for a series of Mayan kings. These masks were made out of beautiful green jade, in many cases intricately pieced together like mosaics. In some cases, everything that a particular ruler had been buried with was there – plates, containers, bracelets, rings, necklaces – plus mask. They were stunning. Additional pieces of Mayan sculpture helped to round out the exhibit, and in many cases, this was the first time that some of the pieces had been displayed outside of Mexico. It was a really great exhibit, but, sigh – and I don’t know why I get so surprised over this – there was nothing in any language but French, so we’re unclear on some of the details!
Seeing as we were right at the Madelaine, R decided that coffee would be a good idea – especially with Fauchon, the gourmet food store, right there! How convenient! R got coffee and I had sparkling water – then we got some fun pastries to share – a madeleine with a honey center; a madeleine with a chocolate center, a small pound cake with framboise (raspberries); a small pound cake with lemon, and last and certainly least for me, something called a canele – looked like a particularly good chocolate cake, but was, instead definitely alcoholic – UGH! I let R finish my portion; he said it tasted like cognac.
From here, we browsed the local stores – Fauchon, Hediard and my personal favorite, La Maison du Truffe (house of truffles!!) While Robert has promised to take me to lunch there one day, today, after those pastries, was definitely not the time! Tomorrow maybe…
Stopped into the Madeleine, as the last time we were here, it was undergoing renovation. They’ve done a really nice job; we got information on a Vivaldi concert there later in the week…we’ll see!
It was now well after noon, and we decided to take the bus to Rue Mouffetard, our favorite market street in Paris (although I have to admit that the Marche du Bastille on Sunday mornings is pretty terrific!) Caught the 27 bus at the Opera (which also looks wonderful after its renovation!) and took it back to our old neighborhood in the 5th. Visited our favorite Italian deli, and of course got carried away – dried tomatoes, grilled eggplant, marinated artichokes, sharp provolone, a good Milano salami as well as some wonderful looking cannelloni with red sauce…picked up a roasting chicken for dinner tonight, along with some roasted potatoes. Bought some haricot vertes (thin green beans) to round out the meal…YUM! Then back via bus 27 to Cluny, and down into the metro with one change to get back to the flat. Cannot believe how inaccessible to buses this area is – and it is really residential, but no matter!
Decided to have a late picnic lunch – great bread from the boulangerie down the street – the provolone is wonderful! Now full; probably a late chicken dinner tonight! While we are at the flat, the idea of naps sounded really good, so we’ve opened the windows and turned off the lights – Oh! And I’ve put in a load of laundry into the world’s most complicated washing machine! It is a combination washer and dryer – have managed to get one load done (did it on gentle cycle, which was 39 minutes, as opposed to the “normal” cycle that was 94 minutes – whatever can clothes do in the washer that long??)
Not sure what else today will bring, but will say more later at this point!
m
xxx
Oh I vote for the Vivaldi concert!
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