Yesterday, we went over to the left bank and through some areas new to us. Some near St Michel were new for us, even though we've been there a number of times. We found a number of small streets that have lots of Greek restaurants (where we had our lunch/dinner at about 4pm). Then we went to another new area southeast of the Pantheon - where Hemingway and Joyce first lived in Paris. Place de la Contrascarpe is a small, busy plaza with lots of cafes and restaurants nearby. In Hemingway's A Movable Feast, he described the area as a "cesspool" - clearly no longer that way. It seems like school is back in session - lots of college age people back on the left bank. And the Bombardier (a British Pub we've been to a couple times, next to the Pantheon) was too busy to stop for a beer! Seems like you could spend many weeks just exploring different areas of town. For every interesting area I've seen, there are probably 10 or 100 that I've never heard of or seen!
Today, we did some museums. We learned of the Musee Marmottan a week or so ago, with its
collection of Monet and more. It's in the 16th Arrondissement, all the way over by the forest (Bois de Boulongne). Quite a nice and peaceful area! Much different than our neighborhood! We knew when we left the metro, walked down rue de Passy past older people sipping their coffee - we were not in the Marais or les Halles any longer. Large, stately buildings and wide boulevards. So that is how some Parisians live!The museum was very nice. But not one of the free ones on the first Sunday of the month! Ouch. One thing that was most impressive was the inside itself - a beautiful high-ceiling estate. There were also some special exhibitions that had photography. One of them had aerial shots of things like sidewalks or other common areas of Paris. Some were from La Defense. The photographer is Yann Arthus Bertrand - it was pretty interesting. After the museum, we were somewhat close to Roland Garros, so we went over to see it. You couldn't really enter the stadium, but we did get to go into the gift shop and entrance area. So we took care of another thing on Debbie's list.
Afterward we took the metro back to Concorde and had lunch at Cafe Renard in Tuileries. Then we went to l' Orangerie for just a bit more impressionism and Monet! We were museumed out! Walked home past les Halles. Once again missed our chance to shop for groceries at the Franprix of Monoplex (grocery stores) as they were all closed. This seems to happen to us quite often! So we chose quiche and tarts at Victor's Boulangerie, and tomatoes at the produce store for dinner. Tomorrow we leave for Normandy - driving from Le Defense where I've rented a car. Bon voyage!
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