Marais Scenes

 At least within a few blocks of our apartment...

Our street

Side street: premonition of Disney

Our apartment building door under the XV; don't
know whether une Glace a Paris is the most expensive
ice cream shoppe in Paris, but it was 5€ a scoop

Our little building; our apartment was the second
set of windows up; fortunately it was a very quiet
street

Directly across the street...not the budget part of town

Cool Nature store across the street

More nearby streets

No, we did not attend the Frenchy Bitch Party

A few blocks away

On the Rue des Mauvais Garcons; seriously

More a ladies' store, I think

Two blocks away, the Hotel de Ville

Our favorite Parisian department store (Galeries Lafayette
does not have a hardware department where you can buy, 
for example, mouse traps)

Popular sentiment here

Across from the Pompidou, 3 blocks away, 800 years of Paris
architecture in one row; I guess that's not that unusual, really

Interim Update #1,268: In France

The blog is hopelessly behind, I know. Sic semper. We're in Sarlat-la-Canéda, the Dordogne, now, and have been here a week. Before that we were ten days in Paris, all of which were busy because a) it's Paris, and b) we were joined for most of the time by grand-daughter Penelope. She's eleven now, a bundle of energy, old enough to remember Paris and to be impressed. (Not her first visit.) Plus, she's fluent in French, and was happy to serve as our interpreter in exchange for a trip to Disney Paris. We (Vicki) readily agreed. In any case, the next several posts will concern Paris, mostly Penelope in Paris, since I blogged about Paris extensively less than a year ago. 

We did not do anything particularly new during Penelope's visit, except maybe Versailles, which we hadn't done since 2014, and a church or two. We just wanted to show her our favorite city. Our apartment this time was in the Marais, 4th Arrondissement, even closer in than our previous appart on Rue Saint-Denis. We mostly walked to various destinations in the city, occasionally hopping a bus or the Metro/RER for longer journeys. Among things we did were the Carnavalet museum, the Marais neighborhood, BHV and Samaritaine (department stores), St. Merry church, the Bastille market, Les Halles, St. Eustache church, Mollard's (for our 54th wedding anniversary dinner), Disney Paris, the Louvre (twice), Versailles, selected sights on the Rive Gauche, Galeries Lafayette, and, by night, sort of, the Champs de Mars and the Tour Eiffel. Grandma and Grandpa needed several days off after Paris with Penelope.

Paris Out-Takes, 2

Liquor store of my dreams...on closer inspection, turned out to
be a popular pizza parlor, the bottles filled with colored water

"Helluva party," episode 1,739; which reminds me to note the

unforgettable sound of a Paris dumpster's worth of bottles

cascading into the dump truck

There were perhaps a dozen or more Marks and Spencers in
Paris--very helpful for those accustomed to scones and clotted
cream for breakfast--but they are quickly disappearing now,
as Brexit proceeds and the British (re-) discover that they are truly
on an island, cut off from their only significant trading
partners

Do not stand under this tree (birds...dirty, disgusting, filthy,
lice-ridden birds)

Defaced ghost-sign on a building on Rue Montorgueil; France 
still dealing with its colonial past

Debris from a fire in one of the fashion/fabricants next door to
us; Parisian building features significant fire-breaks; thankfully

Fashion all around; Parisians by and large are
quite well-dressed, although the footwear most
commonly seen on younger women was of the
Doctor Marten's variety; same as in London

The great upholder of tradition, classicism, and dignity in French art

of the early 19th century was Ingres; what a surprise then to see this

little Ingres painting at the Petit Palais...Henry IV Playing with

His Children at the Moment the Spanish Ambassador Is Admitted,

1827

French public art is perhaps unconventional but 
always worth a look

In Paris, art pervades all aspects of life

Impressive pastry department in the local Monoprix (a common supermarket)

I have long resisted touring the Opera Garnier--

it is more significant in the city's history than in

music (IMHO)--but finally relented, only to find the

grand hall itself closed for rehearsals; maybe

next time...

Seven weeks in Paris, and, I am pleased to say,

we never once visited a McDo's

Despite there being some of architectural interest

Don't mess with the bus driver: a list of offenses
and fines

As we left Paris, Halloween merchandizing was already well 
underway...

Paris Out-Takes, 1

Paris is a city of 6-story apartment buildings, each apartment of
which, in many cases, has a little half-balcony: requiring half-umbrella
shades

And half-tables

In a kitchen shop: carrot sharpeners; seriously

Dining in Paris has gotten way more international these days; 
Asian fare is quite the rage, if the long weekend lines outside tiny
Japanese and Korean restaurants are any gauge; "French tacos"
is another matter...actually a chain...

Seriously; the idea of French tacos, with an Irish name, seems
to take the notion of fusion perhaps too far

Despite Disney, Ratatouille is no longer welcome in Paris

18th century aristo doggie bed in the Carnavalet

Ad board in the Metro...apparently for milk of magnesia...hmmm...

Sic transit, Gloria: the La France evening newspaper building, now
a Carrefours Express...

Dali would have been proud

Collection of water pitchers at the brasserie down the street; nowadays

you rarely have to ask for une carafe d'eau anymore

The Auberge Nicholas Flamel is in Paris' oldest
house, that of Nicholas Flamel, a late Medieval
figure whom 18th century writers have built a
legend of alchemy and immortality around...and
continued by Victor Hugo and J. K. Rowling, 
among others; there is not a grain of truth in
any of this, of course, but as they say, it's a good
story; we have eaten at the restaurant many times, 
with special friends and on special occasions;
we visited in 2021 but decided not to eat there:
no outside seating (Rue Montmorency is not
much more than an alley), inside very cozy,
and a menu that was quite limited and did not
appeal; maybe next time; anyhow, while we were
in Paris, an article appeared somewhere describing
strange carvings on the house; I suspect these have
always been there and don't express much more
than the usual Medieval piety; but it's a good story,
or was good for a story; anyhow, one column of
said carvings is above

At the Basilica Saint-Denis

Also at Saint-Denis: something new to us, a
stained glass window hinged to open for air
circulation

Still processing this one...

Near our apartment, a skateboard park created
out of a tiny triangular junction

Alas, we did not visit Euro Disney on this 
visit (no grand-daughter with us!), but did 
get to the store on the Champs-Elysees; the 
security guard was on me in a second for not
wearing a mask while groping Elsa and Anna