Paris.

This day was the only day in which we felt off-kilter. It started off with us oversleeping. I’m sure it was an adjustment to jet lag, but we made the mistake of feeling as if we had to go down to breakfast right away and, in reality, it was too soon. We felt foggy off and on for the remainder of the day.

On that very gray day, we decided to walk to the other side of the Seine, to the Louvre and the Tuileries and walk the Champs-Élysées, something we didn’t have time for last year.

We passed by the Louvre, hung a left through the Arc de Triomphe du Caroussel, located just to the east of the Louvre.

It’s quite beautiful and is the gateway to the famous Tuileries gardens.

They’re quite lovely and rather extensive.

Notice the heart? I love this photo of a couple walking down the path.

More sailboats for rent. We briefly contemplated renting one, but thought we should save that for the children. (Even though we are kids at heart.)

We came upon another pond, and saw these.

An installation of umbrellas. So beautiful! We were entranced.

Our bladders were complaining and we spend a great deal of time trying to find a toilette. We finally came upon this:

Pay? Absolutely.

Much better!

We headed through the Place de la Concorde – incredibly busy with traffic – and headed down the Champs-Élysées. It’s a very long walk and it was a frustrating one. There was construction on both sides of the road in the prettiest part of the C-E  – the tree-lined, park-like stretch. So we had to keep leaving the pavement and had to maneuver through puddles, etc. I was frustrated because that was the part I really wanted to see and experience.

When we finally reached a more walkable stretch, closer to the Arc du Triomphe, we were dismayed to find it was full of high-end shops, as well as shops I could see anywhere in Times Square; a Disney store, Abercrombie and Fitch, Zara, and the Gap. It was unbelievably crowded and touristy and very, very disappointing. It was like walking an outdoor mall. We decide to turn around and give up on seeing the Arc de Triomphe up close. Don stood in the middle of the street for the longest time to get a picture of it and got some good ones, but, as you know if you follow me on IG, his phone was stolen later in the week and all of his photos – and there were some great ones – were lost. More on that later.

This is as close as I got with my phone camera:

But we were there and here’s a picture of us to prove it.

It must be noted that we were overwhelmed by images we had seen in the past of the Nazis parading down the Champs-Élysées. Devastating. And we stopped to take that in; how horrific it must have been for the citizens of Paris. Hard to believe now, but all too real.

On the way back, we saw the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, both now museums and exhibition spaces.

Gorgeous. Simply stunning.

We walked across the Pont Alexandre on our way back to the Left Bank.

There she is.

By this time, we had walked for miles and our legs and knees were complaining so we grabbed a cab back to the hotel. We rested for a while in our room and then walked over to the famous Bon Marché department store (only a few blocks from our hotel.) It’s a gorgeous Art Deco building. I was searching for bubble bath, Don for another white T-shirt. We ended up finding both. Though a bit pricey, it’s rather high end, I grabbed the bubble bath because it is always hard to find in the local pharmacies. The hotel has my dream tub, deep and long, and I take a bath every night. How I wish I had a tub like that here!

After a search for a place to have an early dinner – hard to find as restaurants tend to close for a couple of hours and then re-open at 7 pm – I became crabby and Don took over, bless him. He found a Chinese place with take-out and brought it back to the room.

We lost our ‘just be’ mojo that day and made a vow not to lose it again. And we didn’t.

Lesson learned.

Happy Monday.

In addition to all the changes in time zones we’ve been through over the past week and a half – just now getting over jet lag – we’ve been through two time changes. France set their clocks back last weekend, while we were there. And now, we’ve set our clocks back.

No wonder we’re a bit off!

Back to Paris. I’m going to spend a bit of time on Marie De Medici’s Fountain, simply because it’s so exquisite.

The beautiful swoops of ivy. Isn’t this gorgeous? I don’t mind telling you I was entranced.

Reflections and leaves. Another reason I love to visit Paris in autumn.

We stood here for the longest time, trying to figure out who the figures were. Since we stumbled upon the fountain and hadn’t done any research, we could only guess. We were wrong, of course. The fountain originally had a statue of Venus, along with some nymphs, but in the 19th century – the fountain was originally constructed between 1623 and 1630 – it was moved thirty meters (about a hundred feet) to its current location and these figures were added. Sculpted by August Ottin and added to the fountain in 1866, they are the giant Polyphemus, in bronze, and Acis and Galatea, in white marble. You can find all the details about the fountain on Wikipedia.

The coat of arms of the Medicis is at the top.

We sat on two of those chairs, staring at the water and the beauty surrounding us.

Eventually, we left – rather reluctantly – and walked toward the pond.

That’s the Panthéon in the distance. Originally a church dedicated to Sainte-Genevieve, it eventually became a mausoleum, where many famous Parisians are buried. Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Louis Braille, Marie Curie, Alexandre Dumas and heroes of the French Resistance are buried there. We didn’t get to it this trip, but we will next time.

Children were sailing sailboats in the pond.

This dog was quite interested in the fish.

The playground is so wonderful! Kids are allowed to climb and hang upside down and ride through the air on a seat that travels from one point to another. That little girl in the foreground is on it. It’s incredibly well designed and what we loved most about it was that it hearkened back to the playgrounds of our youth, though obviously much better, and to a time when the powers-that-be weren’t so darned ‘careful.’ Kids need to play. They need to explore. They need to take a few risks. There were many parents there and I’m sure they were keeping a careful eye on the kids. It’s magical.

It’s right next to a carousel and the Marionette Theater that we visited last year.

And finally, to our favorite place to while away some time, the Pétanque courts. We discovered them last year and fell in love with the game and the players and the conviviality of the whole thing. I’m going to write more about Pétanque later because I think it’s worth writing about. We came back to watch this game, with an ever-changing cast of characters, at least 3 more times while we were in Paris.

On this particular day, the young gentleman in the foreground noticed us, found out we were Americans, and took the time to explain the game to us. After each round, he would come over and explain what had just happened, how many points each team had, and the strategy of the game. He was so kind. Everyone was. But this man was delightful. We were so grateful for his willingness to pass on his knowledge.

Everywhere we went in Paris, we met kind, generous, friendly, and courteous people. I don’t know where the idea that the French are rude to Americans started, but I have never experienced it. Nor has Don. Sometimes people are busy and only have time for a short reply but that happens anywhere; in my little town here in the Hudson Valley, in New York City, in London. As I said last year, if you make an effort to communicate, if you are respectful and aware that you are a visitor in another country, if you are a bit humble, you will be embraced. We were embraced last year and it happened again this year.

More tomorrow. I sure hope you’re finding this interesting!

Happy Sunday.

When I left you yesterday, we were about to see Notre Dame, which is just across the Seine from Shakespeare and Company. But first, we went into the little park across the street from the bookshop.

It’s charming. Paris has a lot of parks, big and small, and I love sitting down on a bench, watching both the people and the birds. In this case, crows were bullying the pigeons, so we’d see large swaths of pigeons fly up and out of the park, returning when it seemed as if the crows had gone. Very entertaining.

From the park, you could see Notre Dame.

As you see, there is scaffolding everywhere.

I’ve realized that daily life in Paris  – for a tourist – is all about finding bathrooms and bottles of water. We had to find a toilette quickly. The closest bridge to Notre Dame has been closed since the fire. There used to be public bathrooms near the church, but that whole area has been blocked off. So we went to a local café, thinking we’d have a bite to eat, as well as avail ourselves of the toilettes. It was a beautiful café and they had a veggie burger which turned out to be the best veggie burger I have ever had – this from a 30 year vegetarian.

Oh my heavens. We made a repeat visit a few days later. So, so good!

From our table: a view of Notre Dame and the bouquinistes on the Seine. If you’re unfamiliar with that word, the bouquinistes are the booksellers that deal in used and antiquarian books along the Seine. Their shops are essentially in a green wooden box. They open up each day and then close and lock the box at night.

This is what they look like when they’re closed. We bought an antique book from one of the bouquinistes, which I’ll share with you later.

And now, some photos of Notre Dame:

From the front of the church, you’d hardly know there had been a fire, though the spire that we saw fall during news accounts of the fire is missing. But from the side and rear, it’s clear that there has been enormous damage. Many windows are missing; one assumes they’re being restored.

The Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge on the Seine, connects to Île de la Cité, the center of what was the medieval city of Paris. Notre Dame is there, along with a palace that surrounds Sainte-Chappelle, the most gloriously beautiful chapel I have ever seen. But that is for another day.

There. A shot of Notre Dame where the damage isn’t as visible. It’s comforting to see that the front view of that gorgeous church is much the same.

We headed back toward the Jardin du Luxembourg. This time, we entered from Rue Vaugirard, which gave us a whole new view of parts of the garden we hadn’t seen. Including this, my now favorite place in the garden.

I don’t mind telling you that we gasped when we saw this: Marie De Medici’s Fountain. This is a sneak peak. I’ll share more with you tomorrow. I have never been so entranced by a fountain in my life. It’s simply exquisite.

More of the fountain and the park and a whole lot of other things tomorrow.

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Happy Saturday.