Breakfast in Paris--coffee and croissants at a streetside cafe table. We were the lucky ones, breakfasting at our leisure on a Monday morning, while the Parisians were on their way to work or to school.
The commuters went briskly by, using all possible modes of locomotion, from pedestrians to bicyclists to mororcylists to drivers. Three common vehicular encounters: vintage Minis, modern Minis, and Smart Cars.
We went for a long walk on l'Isle de la Cite and l'Isle Saint-Louis, and then continued down to the Marais district of Paris.
Unfortunately, our photos from most of this walk were lost in a technology glitch. There's no telling exactly what happened, but I think it involved reformatting a memory card, re-setting the date on the camera, and then probably writing over photos saved to my computer with new photos that had the same filename. I am not pleased but there's not much I can do about it. Quelle dommage!
Our images pick up again at Hotel de Sens which we happened upon by accident. We enjoyed admiring its stately facade and got a zoomed-in shot of one of its gargoyes.
During our walk we found an unusual little museum in the middle of town, where L'association Paris Historique is excavating and restoring an old mansion above ground, and a 13th century cellar with marvelous arches and pillars below ground.
Fortunately, I brought home a postcard which tells me this is the Maison d'Ourscamp on rue Francois Miron. For a small donation we were given a personal guided tour by a knowledgeable, English-speaking guide.
Since Paris is the home of so many world-class museums, it's easy to neglect a tiny site like this one. It was delightful, though, because its focus is small and manageable. We spent about 45 minutes there and came away pleased with having made this small discovery.
Just down the street we saw two half-timbered houses enduring yet another century of habitation in the heart of Paris. They really stood out from their surroundings, but of course that is because they are the oldest houses in this part of town.
Back in the 15th century they had a lot more company. An interpretive plaque on the street side of the building says that this style of house is very rare in Paris now, as most have been destroyed. And at one time the wooden timbers were covered over with plaster as a fire-prevention measure.
We walked down an alley and realized that one of these buildings is bulging in the middle and has been pulled together with metal braces to keep it from collapsing.
For pure visual fun, I enjoyed taking this picture of a sign hanging out front:
We rested our feet for a while, sitting on a wall in the sun outside the Hotel de Ville watching vast crowds of people hustle around town.
We continued on to le Centre Pompidou where we sat outside for a long time, people-watching.
I was quite disappointed that the pond out front with its funky sculptures was drained and ugly. Since I have precious little interest in modern art, this small failure became somewhat monumental in my mind. I also had very sore feet, so we decided against visiting the museum. Another time!
Instead, we stopped at a little market for a cold drink--Orangina is the best!--and then took the subway home to recover from our walk, have dinner, and cap off our day with a boat ride on the Seine.
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