A day of rest and visiting a familiar neighborhood

Day 23 France 2012

We decided that we had been walking so much that we needed to give my knee a rest, so while Mark and Vicki set out for more adventures, Leon and I stayed around the apartment.  We did some laundry.  See if you can figure out these washer and dryer dials.  Although we know several French nouns and a few verbs, none of them are on these dials!  There is another button marked "Depart" and after you turn the machine on, you have to push the Depart button to start the cycle.

While it was not raining, we walked up to the River just to check out a part of our neighborhood that we had not seen before.  We are only two blocks from the Seine River and one block from the Eiffel Tower.  Our apartment is the third building from the corner of the block.  The corner has a little brasserie restaurant on our side of the block, but on the other side of the corner, they have a boulangerie.  We had been walking to the other end of our block and around the corner to find a boulangerie, and here was one just 3 doors from us. 

We walk past several buildings with beautiful wrought iron gates leading to pretty courtyards.  This one is just around the corner from us.  

We have seen several cars decorated for weddings, and there was one parked on the next street from us.  They tie bows to the door handles and windshield wipers, wrap lacy ribbon on the hood, and tie a big bow on the front of the hood.  I was sorry that this did not show up better in the photo…the lacy ribbon just sort of disappeared onto the light colored car in the photo, but was quite pretty.

We walked up to the River and enjoyed the view across, then headed down to the Eiffel Tower. 

 One of the elevators was not working at the Eiffel Tower, so people were lined up for blocks to go up to the top.  Once again, we were glad we had already done that in years past.  This photo just shows the front of the line.

Paris streets are cleaner than I have ever seen them.  The mayor of Paris has been working to improve the image of the city.  There are trash bags in metal holders on every block and recycle bins on several corners.  People are now required to pick up after their dogs, too.  When we first started coming to Paris, dog poop was on the sidewalks but particularly in the streets.  Signs back then said "Curb Your Dog" but now they tell  you to clean it up.

I talked Leon into walking down to Rue Cler, our old familiar neighborhood in Paris.  Every other time we have been here, we have stayed in this neighborhood.  It is a market street with lots of little restaurants.  On Sunday, it was particularly crowded with people buying fruits and vegetables, meat, cheese, and wine.  There was a man playing a hurdy-gurdy and singing along.  I got a short video of him, but have not figured out how to insert it in my blog.  I loved being back in familiar territory.  I feel very comfortable on Rue Cler since I know where the post office, the boulangerie, the other shops, and even the Metro stop are.  I have a terrible sense of direction, but on Rue Cler, I am never lost.

We bought some fresh cherries from one of the street vendors, then got a couple of sandwiches from the boulangerie (and a pain chocolat), and came back and had lunch.  It is hard to find Pepsi in France, but we found some in one of the markets, so I have really enjoyed them.  Such a nice relaxing day.  Any day in Paris is nice, though!

Mark and Vicki came back from their adventure, and Vicki made dinner for us.  She fixed pork chops in wine sauce with melted cheese on top.  We roasted some potatoes, fixed a big salad of mache and tomatoes, got out a fresh baguette, opened a bottle of wine, and stuffed ourselves...again!