Sunny stroll on the Seine

Welcome back fellow travelers. I returned yesterday after a couple weeks in sunny Tucson AZ - to an overcast, drizzly Paris. I don't seem too jet lagged, but time will tell. I kept moving yesterday most of the time (did take a couple hour nap mid-afternoon). I managed to get a full night's sleep (with the aid of Excedrin PM) and was ready for Sunday.

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous! Paris seems a bit quieter in October (I guess I will learn for sure tomorrow when I take the RER). It was sunny and brisk. I wore my leather jacket for the first time going to church this morning. After church, there was a tour of the church, so I went on that. Learned this is the first American Church on foreign soil - established in 1814. I think the current location is the 3rd for the church, and was built in the late 1920's. There are 2 Tiffany windows (that were originally commissioned for a previous church site). They are the only 2 Tiffany windows outside the USA. The organ is from Beckerath in Hamburg, Germany, has 3,328 pipes, and weights 18 tons. Crazy, huh. In the evening, they were having a music program put on by the various church music groups (which include 4 choirs - adult, young adult, youth and kids choirs; and 2 different handbell groups). So I returned for that also.

In between, it was such an excellent day, I just walked. I decided to head for the Bombardier next to the Pantheon (British pub that has Sunday roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding). It is a bit of a haul, but the walk is nice along Invalides and Babylone. I was disappointed when I got there, though. The place was closed (and it's only supposed to be closed on Christmas!). They had some sort of water problem (which I could smell from outside). I didn't really have a backup plan, but I did just finish Hemingway's Movable Feast on the flight back. So I headed up rue Cardinal Lemoine to Place Contrescarpe, his old stomping grounds. There are cafes surrounding the plaza, so I just picked one and settled for croque madam (no roast beef dinner, that's for sure). There was a flea market in the square, so I just ate and watched the crowd (pictured below). Nothing of interest at the market that I could tell.

I walked back down to the river afterwards and headed back towards the church. I followed Ile de Citi on the shady north side until it ended, then crossed over to the sunny right bank. The road along the river was closed to cars, so you had lots of Parisians walking, rollerblading, cycling along. I joined the group - got a bit sun burned! By the end of the day, I think I probably put in about 8 or so miles. My legs feel like it too. Au revoir.