Return To The 2nd Arrondisment

We had an apartment in the 2nd on Rue St. Denis for two months in 2021 and wanted to return to the area for old times' sake and also to see what had changed. We got off the bus near the Galerie Vivienne, saw some things there, and leisurely made our way up Rue Montorgeuil and then over to Rue St. Denis. There were wonders and surprises, as always in Paris.  I'll let the pix carry on from there.

In Galerie Vvienne, freshly scrubbed up and painted, we thought;
a galerie here is a long enclosed arcade of shops, restaurants, etc.

A favorite photo shop that takes old classics and 
gives them a contemporary humorous look

The French national library is located on Rue Vivienne, the Richelieu
library, and also in the massive new Francois Mitterand library in the 13th;
the Richelieu was under wraps and scaffolds in 2021 and 2022, but now
finally is open; we had a peek at the public part, the oval reading room,
the subject of a separate post; we visited the Mitterand complex in 2014

Entry to the Colbert Galerie nearby

And the more famous Galerie Vivienne, which we've
visited before

At a map store nearby

Still on our list of historic restaurants to visit

A very crowded Rue Montorgeuil, one of the best of Paris' market streets

Many years bad luck if the new refrigerator being
delivered falls on you

More of Montorgeuil...many memories from 2021

On Reamur, crossing over to St. Denis, beginning
the garment fabrication/designer/wholesale area...
a ribbon store...sells nothing but ribbons, with a line
out the door

At The French Bastards, a boulangerie/patisserie we
frequented in 2021: a major discovery...they now sell
kouign amann, the very decadent Breton pastry/cake we
adore!

Entrance to our 2021 apartment building; the pop-up
next door is still popping-up

Looking up Rue St. Denis to the Louis XIV arch at
Porte St. Denis

Now in the Passage Caire, a few meters from our
apartment, Paris' oldest galerie, still mostly garment
wholesale

Celebrating Napoleon's visit to Egypt

On a square on Rue Aboukir, an apartment building
gone green...and now blooming too

The art deco Grand Rex theater, under scaffold and wraps
in 2021-22, now finished and revealed

Final stop and ultimate goal for the day...LeClercq, 
the Flemish frites shop we adored in 2021

Tuber heaven!

Surprise of the day: walking to the bus stop, we passed
a block+ long line to get into the Musee Grevin,
in the Galerie Grevin; we had always dismissed the
Musee Grevin--reviews were terrible "only thing in
the world that makes the Wax Museum look good"--
but have now resolved to consider it in 2024, should
our grand-daughter come to visit

The happy day ended the next morning, with kouign amann for
breakfast...40% dough, 30% sugar, 30% butter...