Windy, Blustery Saturday in Paris

We woke to some pretty fall-ish weather this morning, but that didn't stop us from having a great day.

We started our morning with a fun few hours right here in our neighborhood, visiting the big antique and flea market that is happening today and tomorrow.  Wow!  Several streets full of booths, lots of lovely things, but nothing that i could fit into my suitcase,  talk David in carrying home for me, OR that I could afford!  But we had a wonderful time looking.  Here is a quick peak at the scene:

We also strolled around the Rue Cler area, which is the name of the market street right near our apartment.  It's a pretty little street with many shops:

Our plan for the rest of the day was to visit yet a different area of Paris, and I (of course) had a couple of stores in mind......

So down to the Metro, and off to the Les Halles area.  First order of business--lunch!  Even though it was a bit "blustery", we chose a sidewalk cafe, and had a nice hot bowl of soupe a l' oignon.  Just what we needed to warm us up!

Next stop: BHV--a HUGE department store that has a bit of everything, even a very upscale clothing department!  We spent at least 2 hours browsing--for some reason we were just fascinated with this store.  We especially liked the hardware department in the basement, where David bought a roll of duct tape (don't laugh, Deb!) to repair the shower head here in our apartment.  The kitchen department was also wonderful--I thought of you, Mom.  They have beautiful dishes, and I found at least 3 sets I wanted. David said NO!

But likely the strangest item in the store-- A paint your own Gnome!  Do you need this Matt?

After our hours of browsing at BHV we just started walking and walking and walking.......I think we must have walked at least 10-12 miles today!  But this is our favorite thing to do in a city--to just wander, and explore away from the regular tourist areas.  In Paris, we especially appreciate the beautiful, amazing
architecture every where you look:

We realized it was getting late--almost 6 pm! So we stopped at a nice little sidewalk bar to rest our weary feet, have a beer and espresso, and plot our evening.  We decided to Metro back to the apartment and have dinner in tonight, as the weather was looking a bit more threatening.

Along the way we stopped for a few dinner items, and here is our lovely dinner:

That's haricourt verts, a lovely carrot/zucchini gratinee, and a pork and veal boulette.  Served, of course, with a loaf of that wonderful French baguette, brie cheese and butter.  (True confession time:  I only cooked the green beans--the rest we bought at a traitour--a deli like shop!) It was all delicious, but the gratinee was my favorite.  I will say the green beans are beautiful, and they were good, but my brother-in- law Dan'l B's are much better!

 I'm not even going to post a picture of the deserts, I'm too embarrassed.

So here we sit, all snuggled up and cozy in our apartment, listening to the wind and rain outside.  Another perfectly wonderful day in Paris.....