Nous avons chaud

The weather turned hot--not warm--hot, upper 90s, which in Paris is ugly, since there is little air conditioning. So Vicki and I--after getting P and her parents off to the Gare du Nord and the train to the UK of GB--decided it might be good to spend the day visiting some of the (hopefully) air-conditioned newer department stores.

Interior of the Gare du Nord, one of the older stations still
standing

Surfing from AC shop to AC shop, we made
our way to the old Samaritaine, now defunct
and awaiting either destruction or resurrection,
one of Paris' great old department stores,
another Art Nouveau treasure

Humongous...one of the game-changers in retail

Thus

And thus

And then made our way back up-river on
the Rue Rivoli past the St. Jacques Tower

Appreciating Pascal's scientific researches

And past the Hotel de Ville

And finally to the BHV, where we spent the
afternoon, looking mostly at the cook-ware
(an entire floor: the French are serious about
a lot of things, but nothing more than cooking)

In the book department at BHV; "Le Faulkner de Louisiana"

Department store philosophy; at least the AC
was working

All over Paris we have been looking for a plastic
picnic table cover for use in the States,
something that said "Paris" or "France" or
somesuch; we have seen "welcome to England"
and "welcome to New York" and all kinds of
such things, but never Paris

Until searching an humble housewares shoppe on Diderot
Boulevard; I am not sure how it's going to look on a
National Forest Service campground picnic table; but Vicki
likes it