Wednesday, September 18, 2013

September 4, Market, D'Orsay, Great Bread


A quieter day today.  Al went off to his French class this morning. Mostly conversation with other students.  Some do not speak English as their first language- which forces them to not fall back on using their mother tongue.  French is a common language.   He also went to the Paris Rotary and enjoyed the other members.

Meanwhile, I went to my first neighborhood market (this is a method I have chosen to assure that I visit places throughout the city- there are markets in every arrondissement, in a guide called Markets of Paris).  Today’s outing was to Enfants Rouge in the 3rd arrondissement.

It was a very small, covered market.  More specifically, there were about 4 vendors surrounded by open-air restaurants. Kind of a French food court with better food than in our food courts.
 

I bought pears (the fruit here is great-ripe and juicy), potatoes and carrots.  I ate lunch at a Moroccan place- a large plate of chicken and roasted vegetables (10E) with endless bread to sop up the juices. 
 
A local cat came to each table and patiently waited for scraps.
 
 
 A walk around the neighborhood included lots of upscale clothing shops and a park full of Parisians eating their lunches.
 

Next stop was Mussee d’Orsay. On the way, I saw a poster for our own Jonny Lang performing here in October.
 

A light bulb went on in my brain. Most Metro stations have a map of the area near the exit.  I should take a picture of the map when I leave a new station to find the place I am going.  Much easier than trying to memorize the map, or pull out my big map.

The Mussee d’Orsay is an old railroad station- worth visiting to see the building as much as the art.  Very crowded in the afternoon.  I will go back in the morning.  I spent considerable time looking at my Fr-English dictionary translating titles- most of which ended up being a description of the picture like “Uphill Walk through Tall Grass”- exactly what was in the scene.
An enjoyable time sitting alongside the Seine in the shade


and then a walk down Rue de Bac (was there once a box factory there?) to the Metro.  Stopped at Eric Kayser Artisan Boulanger.  Bought baguette and croissants.  I now understand why I see lots of Parisians walking around breaking off pieces and eating them while walking.  Almost as good as chocolate.

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