A Very Relaxed Day in Paris

We enjoyed a lovely, relaxing day in Paris today.  We didn't even leave our apartment until 10:30!

We had a very tentative plan for the day, but had at least chosen an area to explore.  We made our way to the St. Germaine de Pres area of Paris, a neighborhood not too far from ours. It's a very nice area, full of wonderful shops and a restaurant we had wanted to try for lunch.

We spent a couple of hours exploring the neighborhood and window shopping.  I found a great pair of shoes that I couldn't resist.

We had lunch at the only micro-brewery in Paris-a place called O'Neil's. We shared a flat bread pizza and tried two different micro-brews.  They were just O.K.--we think Belgium has the best beer!

Back out onto the street to explore some more!  We found a nice little church and popped in to have a look.  It was very different--as it had a painted interior.  It was undergoing some much need restoration work, so we could see only part of it, but what we did see was pretty:

We had planned on going to Cafe de Flore after lunch for an espresso and creme brulee for desert.  Well, we found the cafe, but couldn't get a table!  Here it is, without us:

We'll try it again later this week, maybe we'll have better luck in a morning time.

We decided this afternoon would be a perfect time to go out to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery.  I had wanted to go last year, but just didn't get around to it.  It's a huge, very old cemetery that is the final resting place for many famous people: Honore De Balzac, Gertrude Stein, Sarah Bernhardt, Maria Callas, Chopin, Marcel Proust, Colette, Modigliani, Moliere, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde--and of cousrse Jim Morrison! The only grave we could find (didn't look too hard) was Marcel Proust.  It is a beautiful, serene place, and it was a nice, crisp fall day for a stroll.  There are huge chestnut trees lining the paths, and the chestnuts were falling down.

  Many of the monuments are very large, and most of the family burial tombs have stained glass windows. Here are just a few pics:

After a couple of hours wandering around Pere Lachaise it was time to think about heading back to our apartment.

It's now almost 6pm-rush hour in Paris.  Nothing like the Metro at rush hour, we were packed in there like sardines!  Two line changes and about 40 minutes later, we're back in our little neighborhood.  A quick stop at the market for some cheese, the boulangerie for a fresh baguette and we are set for dinner.

We tried a couple of new cheeses--whew!! I know the French like their stinky cheese, but WOW!  David likes them, but I can't quite get past the smell.  So our dinner was very simple: Cheese, hard sausage, bread, BUTTER, and some of those delicious olives from the market yesterday. Oh, and just for good measure I threw in some token healthy food: fresh green beans and some carrot sticks.  Doesn't than cancel out the 4 tablespoons of butter I ate?

Tomorrow in Paris: not in Paris!! We are catching an early morning train to Chartres, about 1 1/4 hours outside of Paris.  It is home to (supposedly) one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world.  Will be hard to beat yesterday's St. Denis, though!

Stay tuned....................