Really enjoying your report. I have been inside your apartment! My brother stayed there when we were in Paris this October. We also rented one from VIP. Number 197. It was a little bigger than the one you rented and we enjoyed it very much except for the 6 floors we had to walk up. That meant the more pastries we could eat from the Patisserie des Reves down the street.

Looking forward to more of your report.

Thanks for liking my photos. Usually the only person that wants to see them is my other sister who is an armchair traveler. Before I leave on a trip she always saids to me, your eyes are my eyes, I see what you see. I can count on her to want to see my photos so for someone else to want to see them is pretty cool.

9th Arrondissement and the Grands Magasins

We hop on our metro, line 8, as it is a direct to the 9th arrondissement. We get off at the Grand Boulevards stop and it is raining. We quickly duck into the Passage Jouffroy. The passages are a perfect place to be in the rain-you can wander without getting wet as the passages have glass ceilings.
The entrance sign to the passage is very classic looking with the individual boutique signs adding to the allure of the passages.
At the beginning there is a bookstore, Librairie du Passage, with tables of books lining the passage, mainly art books. They must be out of print books or very good condition used books as I bought a nice coffee table size book on Claude Monet for only 10E. I hesitated buying because it doesn’t quite fit-ok does not fit at all- my small souvenir criteria, but I decide to get it as it will lie flat at the bottom of my roller suitcase, and it was only 10 euro and I have a weakness for books.

Next we wander into the next passage-Passage des Panoramas and it is like stepping into another world- an interesting and peculiar world.
Stamp collector shops, post card collector shops, miniatures and quirky stuff shops- like a shop with old various doll parts- mixed in with cafes and bars filled with well dressed workers from I imagine the nearby financial district.
The quirky with the serious.

These two passages have mostly collectable boutiques but we did manage to find and buy from probably the only clothing boutique-Sybella-18 Passage des Panoramas- I bought a scarf and my sister bought a coat for her daughter’s 30th birthday present. Yes, I said a coat-definitely does not pass the small souvenirs criteria- but that is my criteria not hers. It is a very sleek, chic Parisian coat and her daughter will wear it well among all the big puffy coats in Portland, Oregon.

We leave the passages and head into the 9th arrondissement with Les Cakes de Bertrand as our destination (7 rue Bourdaloue- near Notre Dame de Loretta). I found this boutique on a previous trip and it is one of my favorites. They have a collection of bags, purses, perfumes, costume jewelry and papeterie in cool, retro designs with a little Parisian bling added. The shopkeeper was playing Christmas Jazz music from the 50s and 60s with Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole thrown in, which adds nicely to the whole experience.

After spending some time at Les Cakes de Bertrand we wander back towards the Grand Department stores to see the lights. It had stopped raining when we left the passages and this was a pleasant walk in a neighborhood that I do not know that well.

We stop at A La Mere de Famille at 35 rue du Faubourg Montmarte. This place is great! We step into a narrow wooden framed doorway and enter the shop which is jammed pack with candies of all kinds; the floor has a down-slope to it which brings you to a glass counter where all the specialty candies are. After you make your choices, you pay the cashier who sits in a little wooden box.
From their card they were founded in 1761 and have 9 locations in Paris. I have been to the one on Rue Cler, but there is something about this particular shop that makes the candy taste that much sweeter.

We reach the grands magasins, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.

If the Bon Marche was a whisper, then the grands magasins are an in your face shout…It Is Christmas-lights, camera, action.

The energy from the rush of people is crazy and exciting.

We go inside and check out the huge Christmas tree in one of the stores-I think it was the Galeries Lafayette-it has a rock and mode theme-(huh?-not so Christmassy)-but I like the dome-it has stars hanging from it.

It gets a bit hot and overwhelming with people so we step back outside get some hot chestnuts and check out the windows, which is a continuation of the rock and mode theme.

The Galeries Lafayette outside lights are brilliant-very beautiful and the Printemps building outlined in red lights is stunning-especially when viewed from across the street.

We realize we are pretty hungry. We go upstairs in one of the stores-I think it was Printemps- to check out the cafes. We end up eating at a very quite sushi bar.
Calm in the eye of the storm.

FF - you are whetting my appetite for a part of Paris that i barely know.

definitely thinking about trying to persuade DH that he'd like to go next Christmas.

Takes me back to our Christmas trip a few years back. Really sounds great.

Another day, another big adventure. Today is the first Friday of the month which means that the Crown of Thorns ceremony is at 3pm at Notre Dame. This is our plan for today.

We leave the apt around 11 and head to the Tuileries Gardens. The day is gorgeous. The sky and clouds are incroyable. We walk thru the gardens all bundled up enjoying the gardens and the day.

On our way to the Louvre to use les toilettes we pass the neighborhood dog park. Now I know that Paris dogs are everywhere, on sidewalks, in cafes but I guess I never thought about where Paris dogs play.
Turns out they play at the gardens of the Louvre.
I have a good time watching these dogs and their humans.
The dogs are all sizes and shapes. And in true Paris form they are chic. Not a mutt among them, very fancy dogs.
We are amused by the littlest one-he always gets the ball and the big dogs haven’t a clue how to get it from him.

We pass under the pyramid just because it is cool and use the bathrooms. This trip we do not go inside the Louvre but just use their bathrooms.

We walk along the Seine checking out the bouquinistes along the way to Notre Dame.

We have some time before the Crown of Thorns ceremony and the day is cold so we think French onion soup.
We head to Aux Tours Notre Dame. I know it’s a tourist spot, and certainly there are better places for French onion soup, but this location is convenient-and because of the high turnover of tourist you can get in and out pretty quick.
One of these times I will try Au Pied de Cochon as I have read the French Onion Soup is really good there-but since I don’t have anything to compare to, I think the soup here is just fine.

That is the thing with Paris- there is so much to see and do that you need to go back again and again to search out the discoveries on the ever growing list.

We make our way across the street to Notre Dame to a new discovery.

I hesitate to write about this because I just don’t think I can convey the experience in words.
I was not expecting to be so moved.
I really don’t know what I was expecting.
It seemed like a unique experience and since one other time I was in Paris on the first Friday of the month and had passed it up it made the list this time.

We got there about 2:30 and people were already seated. We choose seats to the side near the inner aisle.
The procession starts and comes down the side aisle, then back up the center aisle, ending at the middle alter, where the ceremony is held- in French of course.

The cast of characters is magnificent. There were priest in white robes with red, orthodox priest- very Hasidic looking with tall black hats, nuns in black with lace veils, nuns in black without the lace veil, nuns in white, one younger women in a blue suit-who turned out to be the solo vocalist-and the crown (really only a piece of the crown) encased in a plastic wreath and carried on a red pillow. I am sure that there is significance to all the different color robes and hats but I don’t know it.

As the ceremony is taking place, some late comers join us and stand in the side aisle-way blocking the view of the alter from those of us that got there early and are seated. The looks and the loud whispering pull my focus from the dignified ceremony, which of course I cannot understand anyway. But the body language of the- I got here early and your pissing me off by blocking my view- crowd is fully understandable. The late comers look back as to say, yeah what are ya gonna do about it! Someone from the seated crowd actually gets up to go find someone to do something about it-and brings them back-but he doesn’t have much luck with this crowd. They just kinda shift a little but don’t leave. More staring and looks get thrown back and forth.
I find it interesting that we are in one of the most magnificent cathedrals on this earth, with men and women who have devoted their lives to a higher calling, with a piece of sacred religious artifact and people are acting like they are at a concert trying to get a better look at the pop star without regard to anyone else or even what they are there for.

What does that say for us as a human race I still wonder?

What happens next takes me out of body.

By the crowd’s movements I understand that you can actually form a procession, much like receiving communion and get up next to the wreath and even touch it if you want. (So all that earlier stuff did not have to happen if people just had respect for others and waited their turn?)

As I am moving up the center aisle it is awe-inspiring, the surroundings are so majestic. The sound of the solo vocalist, the gathering of the priest and nuns at the altar, the afternoon light pouring thru the stained glass makes the experience so, I can’t quite find the words-so I will use awe-inspiring again.

The woman in front of me is holding a baby girl about a year old and as she gets to the first priest the baby reaches out for him and he takes her in his arms. The look on that baby’s face as she was taking the priest in was one of pure wonderment.

I am up next, I give the sign of the cross-my automatic Catholic reaction-and try and take it in-this is where I leave my body as I can’t quite remember exactly what it looked like.

I step aside to wait for my sister who is behind me. The sun streaming thru illuminating the rose window is an image I hope I will never forget.

Back at home I learn more on the fascinating history of the Crown of Thorns from the Notre Dame website-
www.notredamedeparis.fr

In keeping with our can my soul get any fuller-feeling we cross the bridge to Isle St Louis and sit outside at Le Flore en Lile Café and listen to a violin player‘s beautiful music while someone else is blowing big bubbles which float over the Seine in the cloud filled sky.
We order chocolat chaud which they bring to us
a l’ancienne and we perform tabletop alchemy with the pitcher of warm milk, a smaller pitcher of dark, rich chocolat, pouring the two together creating just the right mixture of wonderful.

We take the bus back to the 7th to meet up with Cynthia Morris, who is the author of the newly released novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach-a magical read which transports you back to 1930s Paris (since she self published it may not be at your local bookstore or library but is available on Amazon).

Cynthia, like a lot of us, loves Paris and has figured out a way to spend a lot of time here; this time she is house-sitting for a few months. We meet at the Le Sancerre Wine Bar on Ave Rapp and after a few hours of lively conversation while she is sketching the items on our table, we part ways, she rides off in the Paris night on a velo, and we walk to our apt where are beds are waiting for us after a very long, but wonderful day.

What a wonderful day -- thanks for sharing it.

This is wonderful. I did not know about the Crown of Thorns ceremony. The last few times we were in Paris we had a few too many unpleasant experiences with pickpockets and thought we were through. Your post makes me want to go right back.

I'm thoroughly enjoying your trip report. Just lovely.

I agree, lovely.

Thanks, love re-traveling thru trip reports. Merry Christmas

We have been to the Crown of Thorns Ceremony twice during Lent. The first time when we went up and got to kiss it, it was surreal. One of our best experiences traveling. There were some older gentlemen who were in the procession that came in with the priests that kept everyone in order and did not let people stand in the way, nor culd anyone cut in line. They were wonderful. My husband compared them to Knights of Columbus at home.

Joyeux Noel,
Hope is was a merry one for you...

I added some pictures

http://www.flickr.com//photos/28199474@N04/show/

More adventures to follow

Continuing....
Started the day grocery shopping on rue Cler. I know that a lot of people don’t really care for rue Cler and say it is too touristy, but come on, it is a street in Paris with beautiful food-a patisserie, a boulangerie, a chocolaterie, a charcuterie, and a wine shop - all right around the corner from our apartment. Really-c’est pas mal.

After unloading the groceries and lunch, once again in our apartment, we head to Musee Marmottan.

Located in the 16th arrondissement, we take the RER line C there then walked the rest of the way in a slight drizzle thru first a few streets of shops and then a park to the museum.

I have wanted to go to this museum for a long time but because it is a little out of the Paris center a visit was bypassed for something else nearer.

But no more. I will visit this museum every time I am in Paris-it was that great.

The museum owns more than 300 works of impressionist art including the largest collection of Monet paintings. All the big well know impressionist and post impressionist artist are represented here. Monet, of course, and Manet, Degas, Pissaro, Renoir and Sisley.

Claude Monet has been a favorite of mine for a long time and here were a lot of Monet’s that were new to me, including a few big canvases of his weeping willows that were stunning.

During our visit there was a special exhibition of paintings by Henri-Edmund Cross,a new discovery for me and my new favorite artist. He painted such dreamy visuals using pointillism with a resulting look of mosaics.

The museum is named for M. Marmottan, a Frenchman who made his money from the coal mines of Northern France, or at least that is what we were told by a security guard.

Below is the history of the museum from Wikipedia:

Originally a hunting lodge for the Duke of Valmy, the house at the edge of the Bois de Boulogne was purchased by Jules Marmottan in 1882 who later left it to his son Paul Marmottan. Marmottan moved into the lodge and, with an interest in the Napoleonic era, he expanded his father's collection of paintings, furniture and bronzes. Marmottan bequeathed his home and collection to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. The Académie opened up the house and collection as the Museum Marmottan in 1934.

Though originally a showcase for pieces from the First Empire, the nature of the museum's collection began to change with two major donations. In 1957, Victorine Donop de Monchy gave the museum an important collection of Impressionist works that had belonged to her father, Doctor Georges de Bellio, physician to Manet, Monet, Pissaro, Sisley and Renoir, and an early supporter of the Impressionist movement. In 1966, Claude Monet's second son, Michel Monet, left the museum his own collection of his father's work, thus creating the world's largest collection of Monet paintings.

And then this interesting bit of made for the movies history:

1985 theft:

On 28 October 1985, during daylight hours, five masked gunmen with pistols at the security and visitors entered the museum and stole nine paintings from the collection. Among them were Impression, Sunrise (Impression, Soleil Levant) by Claude Monet, the painting from which the Impressionism movement took its name. Aside from that also stolen were Camille Monet and Cousin on the Beach at Trouville, Portrait of Jean Monet, Portrait of Poly, Fisherman of Belle-Isle and Field of Tulips in Holland also by Monet, Bather Sitting on a Rock and Portrait of Monet by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Woman at the Ball by Berthe Morisot, and Portrait of Monet by Sei-ichi Naruse and were valued at $12 million.

A tip-off led to the arrest in Japan of a Yakuza gangster named Shuinichi Fujikuma who spent time in French prison for trafficking heroin and was sentenced for five years. There he met, Philippe Jamin and Youssef Khimoun who were part of an art syndicate. Fujikuma, Jamin and Khimoun were the people who planned the Marmottan heist. In his house, police found a catalog with all the stolen paintings from museum encircled. Also found were two paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot stolen in 1984 from a local museum in France. This led to the recovery of the stolen paintings in a small villa in Corsica in December 1990.

And also this regarding Monet’s paintings of his weeping willows:

During World War I, in which his younger son Michel served and his friend and admirer Clemenceau led the French nation, Monet painted a series of weeping willow trees as homage to the French fallen soldiers. In 1923, he underwent two operations to remove his cataracts: the paintings done while the cataracts affected his vision have a general reddish tone, which is characteristic of the vision of cataract victims. It may also be that after surgery he was able to see certain ultraviolet wavelengths of light that are normally excluded by the lens of the eye; this may have had an effect on the colors he perceived. After his operations he even repainted some of these paintings, with bluer water lilies than before.

What is also nice about this museum , at least when I was there, it does not draw the huge crowds which makes viewing the artwork so much more enjoyable.

When we left the museum the rain had stopped and being a Saturday afternoon the streets were busy with locals shopping-so we joined them and eventually made a stop at a very popular, by way of its waiting crowd, patisserie for a pain au chocolat.

Back on the RER direct to St Michel. Coming to street level it was now dark and the place was in full swing-controlled chaos in all directions.
We crossed over to Notre Dame where there was some kind of a telethon going on in the square with a huge crowd.

Wandered into Notre Dame, where a mass had just started, and lit a candle in honor of my Dad on his 94th birthday. The beauty of this cathedral restores me-for some reason when I am here I can block out the crowd around me and focus on the splendor of the sights and sounds.

The night was so gorgeous we decided to cross over the bridge to Ile Saint-Louis.
The isle was charming. Lit up with Christmas lights and window decorations that were pure eye candy. We refrained from a Berthillon ice cream as we had just indulged in the pain du chocolat, but in hindsight really should have had a scoop or two!

Next headed to Rue de Rivoli and the BHV department store. Being a Saturday night in December the store was packed with shoppers and very hot. Checked out the basement with all the hard to resist hardware type housewares then upstairs to the fine housewares with more really good stuff. Almost bought a set of desert plates with Paris pastries on them, but somehow was able to resist.

Continued down Rue de Rivoli until our feet had enough, then caught bus 69 home.

Dinner tonight was from our morning rue Cler visit-roast chicken, pomme puree, salad, fromage and baguette with creamy butter. So good.

One of the pleasures with staying in an apartment is you feel at home-there is enough space to spread out and just chill-and that is what we did for a good part of today.

Today is the first Sunday in the month so free museum day at a lot of the bigger museums.

We walk to the Musée d’Orsay taking streets we have never been on but no new discoveries to tell about, just nice quiet streets on a nice Sunday afternoon stroll.

By the time we get to the d’Orsay the line is very long, which means that inside will be very crowded. I was once in Paris the last week of October and it was the perfect museum time. At the Louvre in the Mona Lisa gallery there were only 5 people, and 2 of them were my sister and me. At the d’Orsay we had whole rooms to ourselves. Late October is a great time in Paris as the crowds are small. Just make sure you dress for it as it can be very cold. That trip I had to buy boots, a sweater, more tights and heaver coat then what I had brought (not that that is a bad thing- clothes and shoe shopping in Paris-if you know what I mean!).

I have also been to both of those museums in the middle of summer when you are behind 3 people trying to catch a glimpse of the painting over heads.

I prefer no crowds for my museum visits and because I know we will return to Paris we decide to go across to the Tuileries Gardens and see what the line is like at the Musée de l’Orangerie.

Not too bad, very short, so we get in line and it starts to drizzle, but no worries we have our umbrellas and we are soon in the museum.
We head straight to the big draw here, the Nympheas, Monet’s water lilies, just lovely. I will be going to Monet’s home and gardens at Giverny this summer for the first time, if anyone has any secrets, please tell.

We sit and gaze for a while then move on thru the museum.

I love museums and have a dream of spending a year in Paris as it would take at least that long to visit them all properly-but I do get glassy eyed after a couple hours. It’s best for me to take my museum culture in small doses. So after a short while we leave and once again find ourselves just walking.

We head to Rue de Rivoli as it is still drizzling and most of this street is covered. We lick windows (leche vitrine) all the way to Musée des Arts Decoratifs-one of my favorite museums. They always have interesting exhibits plus a permanent collection of art nouveau furniture and a lot of Rene Lalique designs. The line is fairly long and it is almost closing time-so we pass for another day.

Back on Rue de Rivoli licking more windows but not anything really good-but if you need that Paris ashtray or le chat apron, here is the place to buy it.

We’re not sure what to do next the rain has stopped so should we continue on to the Marais or to St Germain?

We decide St Germain and on the way there we stop at Habitat on Pt Neuf-the Paris version of Pottery Barn. Lots of nice home décor but we leave without any bags.

We cross over the Seine on Pont Neuf and stumbled on Place Dauphine. Beautiful!
OMG, it was so picturesque- our perfect luck to find it right then. There was no one on the square (really a triangle). It was glistening from the rain and the lights of the ornate lampposts. The shinning cobblestone added to the magic of this little triangular island on the Seine. First time here and will come back again as a place of refuge from the hustle of Paris.

Continuing on we find another great card and gift shop. Really the best selection of cards- I will make this a “have to” every Paris trip. Moeti 30 rue Dauphine.

On this trip eating seems to have taken a back seat. We have made no restaurant reservations and eat mostly at home, which has been really great for the food budget. The occasional restaurant has been where we are when we decide we are hungry. This is one of those times. We stop at Creperie Saint Andre des Arts because it looks nice from the outside. Turns out to be a nice place-cozy with stone and timbered wood walls adding to the charm. Our server is a young college girl from the east coast of the US. I had a mushroom, tomato and onion crepe and of course a desert crepe both really good.

We decide to call it a night and hop on the metro home. Once we get into the 7th the crowd thins and the energy changes to a more subdue one.

As we are walking the sky opens up and the rain pours. We duck into separate doorways and start laughing charged with the energy of the rain. The downpour does not last long and we laugh all the way home.

French friend comes today.

I know her from Hawaii where I live,and she lives part of the year.
She is coming home for Christmas to her village where she grew up and her family still lives which is 3 hours by train from Paris near Nantes.
Her mom, MC, will come into Paris tomorrow to spend a couple days with us.

After French Friend gets settled we take take the
bus to St Germain and explore the area around Blvd St Germain, Blvd Raspail and rue du Rennes.
If you like shopping this is a great area, lots of shoes shops, and clothing stores with nice windows displays for leche vitrine.

First purchase is at Polaine Boulangerie-8 rue du Cherche Midi. This boulangerie is famous for their sourdough bread which they have been making since 1932.
It is baked in wood fired ovens below street level. The Boulangerie is very small and does not have a big selection but what they do have is really good-sourdough bread, tartes aux pommes (apple tartes), and punitions (butter cookies).
We buy some bread for dinner and tartes aux pommes, which we devour before we are down the street.

We make our way to the big Monoprix on rue due Rennes. This is a really good place to buy souvenirs like chocolate bars from Belgium.
I also pick up a water flavoring, Antesite, for my French language teacher-who said to me when describing what she would like me to bring her back from France- “it flavors the water and has no calories”-spoken like a true French women!

Across from Monoprix is a Zara’s, an affordable clothing store that has a few locations in Paris.

Further down on rue de Rennes is a nice house wares store, Culinarion at 99 rue de Rennes, where I find a set of desert plates with Paris pasties similar to the ones I saw at BHV and this time I don’t resist.

Also on rue de Rennes is a small store packed from floor to ceiling and spilling out onto the sidewalk with anything and everything a cook could want. French Friend tells me that there is nothing better than a french vegetable peeler, the blade rotates while you’re peeling and makes a clean slice on bumpy vegetables like carrots and potatoes.

We get to Jardin du Luxembourg just as they are closing the big gates. We stand around and check out some of the apts on the street with roof top terraces decked out for Christmas then we take the bus to our neighborhood and make dinner at home.

I like your travel style and your memory is superb. Nice photos and thanks for alleviating any trepidation that I had for visiting in November. You seem to see a lot of sites even though you have a relaxed(window licking)style of travel. Thankyou for posting your report and photos.

Loving this report. Reliving memories of past trips and taking notes for future ones. Thank you.

Thank you ziggypop and baladeuse. I am enjoying reliving my trip while writing this report.
And ziggypop (luv ur name)-not such a superb memory, but a journal that I write while on my trip.

After a nice relaxing night at the apt catching up with French Friend we start the day as usual with a Pain du Chocolat from our downstairs boulangerie.
I have to say this is a real benefit of staying in an apt and in particular this apt and that particular Boulangerie-Le Moulin de la Vierge.

We walk the easy distance to the Rodin Musee and Gardens.

I love this place-

Is it because every time I come to here I can’t help but think what it would have been like when Rodin and his talented roommates lived here, or is the gardens and the expansive lawn which ends at a tall arched wall of greenery, or is it the sculptures themselves?

The mansion had a number of owners starting with a wealthy fancier in 1727 who died before it was completed. His widow then sold the property and it eventually wound up in the hands of the Catholic Church and the order of the Society of the Sacred Heart. The nuns made several changes to the property to enhance their use, including constructing a chapel.

After the order was dissolved and the nuns were evicted, (which begs the question, who evicts nuns?) rooms could be rented while the mansion was up for sale.

It was now called the Hotel Biron (1905) and became home to several artist.
Among the renters at the Hotel Biron was the writer Jean Cocteau, the artist Henri Matisse, the American dancer Isadora Duncan- who broke with rigid ballet techniques to dance a more free flowing natural style and later dies in the south of France when her scarf gets caught in the spokes of a car she was riding in and breaks her neck-Rodin and the sculptress Clara Westfhoff.

What an amazing time that must have been.

Rodin first had 4 rooms for his studio and by 1911 he occupied the entire building and strikes a deal with the French government, who is now the owner, to leave all of his works and his collection of antiquities to France in exchange for living here for the remainder of his life.

Then there are the Rodin’s famous sculptures.

The Thinker, which if you stand in front of lines up with the tomb of Napoleon and the Eiffel tower for the perfect photo opp.

The Gates of Hell, a depiction of Dante’s The Inferno, which evokes such emotion from something that started out as a piece bronze.

The Kiss-the sweet embrace of two lovers that comes thru in marble.

I don’t know why I love this place. I only know I do and that they serve a mean chaud chocolat piled high with chantilly in the garden café.

And that is how we start this amazing day in Paris.

So loving reading your trip report. We love the Rodin Museum and land in Paris for another trip March 12. It is my sister in laws first time to Paris and I hope she loves it as much as we do.

Irock-thank you-have a great trip in March. I always want to go to Paris...even when I just get back.

After our visit to the Musee Rodin we part ways, French Friend goes to the train station to meet her mother, MC. We walk to St Germain to have lunch at Cuisine de Bar on Cherche Midi.

On the way there we find the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal at 40 rue du Bac. I had no knowledge of this Chapel or its story. From the brochure:

“On November 27, 1830, in the Chapel of rue du Bac, in Paris, MARY, appeared to Sister Catherine Laboure, Daughter of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and requested of her:

Have a medal struck on the model, the persons who wear it with confidence will receive great graces”

We enter the chapel and stand in the back. It is a small narrow chapel with quite a few people praying on their knees. The chapel is very serene, and I can feel the faith of the believers. The chapel has an almost iridescent blue cast from the mosaics in the niches surrounding the apse which has a statue of Mary bathed in a soft blue light adorned with a halo of shinning stars.

This chapel was built on the spot where Mary appeared to Sister Catherine Laboure.

We leave the chapel and enter the gift shop to buy a metal for my arm chair traveler sister, who is a rosary praying kind of girl. I end up getting a few medals as I think it is always a good thing to receive great graces.

Upon exiting the shop a nun approaches me and takes my hands and blesses the metals and then blesses me.

This turned out to be a very serendipitous spiritual stop.

Feeling light footed we continue to rue Cherche Midi and pass Bon Marche’s Grand Epicerie-a grand grocery store. We just can’t pass by, we have to go in.

And here I find the winner of the best macarons in Paris- for me- on this trip- subject to change (bien sur).

This store is really a great grocery store, and this is coming from someone who detests grocery shopping at home. It is full of all kinds of fancy foods, packaged to take with you back home and take away counters of different foods to enjoy in Paris. Really fun to browse.

After a few more distractions we finally make it to our destination, Cuisine de Bar-8 rue Cherche Midi.

They serve open faced sandwiches- called tartines- on Poilane bread (the boulangerie next door). I get a chicken and capers with garlic mayonnaise tartine. It is really good.

The restaurant is a long space with the food prep on one wall and a row of tables on the opposite wall. We have to pull our table out so that I can slide in to sit on the back banquette. A little tight but its okay as long as you have good neighbors.

And we do-Mary Poppins is sitting next to us. She was alone, on a holiday from England, dressed very proper and most cheerful.

She leaves then a lassie from Ireland, once again alone, takes her place. She has an apartment in the 15th and this restaurant is one of her regular spots on her once a month trips. The servers and cooks greet her like the regular she is as she sits down. She immediately falls into conversation with us giving restaurant recommendations and places not to be missed. Once she finds out where we have just been she begins telling us the history of some of the lesser known churches and saints, all the while cracking up as if it is the funniest story she had ever heard-and she wasn’t even drinking-but we start.

We are sitting next to the window and see that is has started to rain and then hail. We have nowhere to be, so we order a drink and listen to her stories and watch the people passing by. Perfect way to spend the hours.

When we leave the restaurant it is now dark and we head to the rue de Buci and rue St-Andre des Arts area.

Two stops worth mentioning-

City Pharma on the corner of rue du Four & rue Bonaparte-a two story pharmacy that does not look like much from the outside, but inside has every lotion and potion a girl could want.

And Cour du Commerce St Anne-a charming cobblestone passage off rue St-Andre des Arts. Look for the tall wrought iron gates that lead to the centuries old street. Un Dimanche A’ Paris, a chocolate wonderland, is on the left. Le Procope- said to be the oldest restaurant in Paris and where that new stimulant from Turkey, coffee, was first served- is on the right.

Fueled by a gelato from Amorino we walk all the way to Shakespeare & Company-that funky bookstore in the 5th arrondissement across the Seine from Notre Dame-where I buy a book each trip just so I can get their cool stamp on the inside cover.

We head home via the metro. I love Paris public transportation it is so convenient. On this trip there was an accordion player serenading us to our stop.

French Friend and Mom-MC are already at home. We have a great conversation with MC and she tells us more about religious symbolism.

But I will save that for next time.