Arrival- First day in Paris

Bonjour mes amies,
We had a good flight over to Paris, arriving at 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday November 22.  We flew on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the newest plane in Air Canada's fleet.  While everything was new and shiny, we have to report that the seats are very small and that the controls on the arm rests are very sensitive to touch.  This means that overhead lights turn off with the slightest touch and that one can easily ring the bell for an attendant inadvertently.  We only had a few hours sleep, but were determined to stay up for the day-- after all, it's Paris and we're only here for nine days.

This trip we are staying at two flats at the same address- 34 Rue du Fer à Moulin in the Latin Quarter near Rue Mouffetard.  Our first flat is very tiny, but very quiet and the owner is extremely helpful.  Andrew, who is Irish, has been in Paris for 18 years.  He teaches self confidence (often to lawyers) and sculpts in his spare time.  The courtyard is lovely, though the leaves have mostly fallen.  The temperature got to a high of 15C, which is wonderful walking weather.

View of courtyard from entrance

Alain in front of the door leading to our flat 

Outside on the street in front of the entrance to the courtyard

Outside our apartment door, the owner has some of his sculptures

We headed out for a coffee and some lunch at Strada Cafe on Rue Monge, about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.  The baristas remembered us from our visit last fall and we chatted.  One of them even offered us two tickets for Musee D'Orsay- but we were too jet-lagged to think about a major museum visit our first afternoon.

Outside of Strada Cafe

Across the street- wonderful building

Alain-jet lagged but happy with his 'noisette' café

 After lunch, we went for a walk in the Saint-Germain area- this trip will be mostly window shopping, as the euro is still very strong.  Lots of fun to check out the newest shops- food and fashion.

As the sign says: Marvellous and Unbelievable!

We stopped at one of our favourite cheese shops-- Laurent Dubois, and picked up some nice sheep cheese (brebis).

Wonderful cheese selection

Laurent Dubois- Meilleur Ouvrier de France

We stopped at Le Labo, where I got a small bottle of perfume-- they create the scent as you wait.

Santal 33 is my favourite.

Mixing the scent

At Le Labo with one of my birthday gifts

We passed by Pierre Hermé, the famous chocolatier.  Lovely windows, with great looking chocolate confections.

Noel under the Stars at Pierre Hermé

We passed a number of posters with Trump headlines.  People are very worried about his impact in Europe.

"Trump and Us"

We walked down Rue de Seine with its many art galleries.  We saw an announcement for an event on Sunday, where over 100 galleries in Saint-Germain, Belleville and the Marais will be open.  Sounds like a plan.

Sunday at the Galleries- we'll be there!

We then went to Shakespeare and Company, the famous English bookshop, where we were meeting our friend Julie, from Toronto.  We just had the one day of overlap in our holidays, as she was returning to Toronto the following day.  There was a reading and interview with Lauren Collins, the author of When in French.  The tiny room was packed and the discussion was good.  The book was about Lauren, a young American journalist and writer living in London who marries a Frenchman.  It was all about language and how it impacts a relationship.  She eventually learnt French and after a few not too happy years in Geneva, now lives in Paris with Olivier, her French husband.  

Lauren Collins at the reading

Julie and Alain

At Shakespeare and Company

The reading ended at 8:00 p.m. and we walked over to Le Bistro des Gastronomes on Rue du Cardinal Lemoine for a great dinner.  Alain and I had a lovely entreé (appetizer in Canada) of small clams, chorizo and cherry tomatoes and Julie had a cauliflower soup.  For a main course (plat), Julie had chicken with mushrooms and Alain and I had cod with vegetables in a light broth.  A generous glass of wine each and we were good.

Cod with vegetables and small clams

Chicken with mushrooms

We walked back to our apartment and Andrew, the owner, who has his own flat below ours, came up to chat.  We conked out at midnight.  A long, but wonderful first day in Paris.