We started our looooong day in the Les Halles neighborhood, visiting another wonderful cathedral. That is, we visited the cathedral after a quick stop at a sidewalk cafe for an espresso (and pit stop)!
The square in front of the cathedral has a very interesting sculpture, Ecoute (Listen) by Henri de Miller. This sculpture was installed in 1986, and is a wonderful contrast to the ancient cathedral:
St Eustace is an interesting 13 century church with a very different type of interior decoration. It is more like St. Chappele, which we visited last year, as it has many brightly painted and gilded surfaces. Here is the exterior:
Of course, we are always very interested in the vault of the church, and this one is very tall and pretty:
Now it was time to explore the area around the cathedral, we just wandered for a bit, and found another lovely cafe for our second espresso (and snack) of the day--must rest our weary feet (and use le toilette!)
After a nice rest, we checked out Les Halles shopping center--kind of like a mall. Not much there, but I did find a really great blouse that I couldn't live without!
Time for lunch--another sidewalk cafe, of course, and guess what we had? Moules y frites! Not quite as good as the last couple of times, but still very enjoyable, and it was an especially lovely cafe with a great view of a park. It is such a pretty time of year in Paris--the leaves are just starting to turn and fall from the trees. And we were really off the beaten path, and I think the only non-French there! A long, leisurely lunch with my sweetie at a sidewalk cafe in Paris--it just doesn't get any better than that.....
It was now time to head to the Louvre--but that post (and the over 200 pictures I took!!) will have to wait until tomorrow! We are t-i-r-e-d!
Here's a little teaser:
Please don't get my wrong...I really love the pictures of the cathedrals and churches...inside and out. Your smile and laughing face by the Listen statue...priceless. David bigger than life by the Mona Lisa...I didn't even smile all day at work. Stone faced I was and stressed UNTIL I came home and ran to your blog. Smiling from ear to ear now. I love David Lisa....
ReplyDeleteYou are tiny behind that hand...and DavOd is huge in front of Mona...great way to show us the sizes.
ReplyDeleteGreat ready your last full day in Grand Ole Paris.
Hey Di and Dave,
ReplyDeleteF-I-N-A-L-L-Y I am able to get online and read your blogs. I am writing this from the mountains above Orofino. The last few days my computer was just too slow to look at pictures or to write much. Today it connected at a faster speed (who can figure) and I was able to read your wonderful posts and see your pictures.
I must say, I'm envious. Everything is beautiful. I especially love the picture of the romanesco (the picture is truly a work of art). I also thought the interior shots of St. Eustace were awesome. However, my favorite is of you standing in the middle of the Ecoute sculpture. When you get home I'd love to have a copy of that picture. Henri de Miller? I've never heard of him before but I really like the sculpture with your wonderful self held within it.
Orofino is absolutely wonderful - today a wild turkey was right outside the kitchen window - very big bird he was..... the deer graze in the yard almost every evening.
Enjoy your last day in Paris and I look forward to reading more of your adventures - you must try out the Italian wines for me. Oh ya, one more comment. I particuarly liked the street art skeleton - very cool! Hugs to you and to Dave.
Pat