This morning, we decided over pain au chocolat and another café crème that we want to explore a bit of the Left Bank. So we walk in that direction but not before stopping by Notre-Dame to admire it in the morning light.
The St. Germaine area is already buzzing and I had just explained to my husband that the common scam is for a "gypsy" to approach tourists and ask if they speak English or whether they read English, or if they’ve dropped a gold ring. The words have just barely left my mouth when we are approached by a "gypsy girl" who asks, "do you speak English?" And we both reply, "non!"
We popped into Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore and enjoyed wandering the narrow cramped aisles. Before our trip, I tried to watch as many Paris/France-related movies as I could and of course, "Before Sunset" was one of my favorites, which is why I was particularly wanting to go to this bookstore. Some other wonderful French movies I enjoyed were, Three Colors (a trilogy): Blue, White and Red (highly recommend), Ratatouille (cute), Amelie (a must!), Paris Je t’aime (great), La Vie en Rose (about Edith Piaf’s life… I really enjoyed it) and of course Ronin.
Books I read before our trip included, "Marie Anotoinette" by Antonia Fraser, "Paris to the Moon" by Adam Gopnik, "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum. A couple that I didn’t have a chance to read before our trip but are on my list, "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky and "Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Susan Vreeland.
We then walked over to the Cluny Building (National Museum of the Middle Ages) and although I would have liked to have seen the famous "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestry and the sculptures of the Kings of Judah which are also a highlight, we decided to put a bookmark in it and look for lunch instead.
Lunch was at "Le Comptoir" (Hotel Le Relais ST-Germain, 9 Carrefour de l’Odeon in the 6th). This lovely art deco dining room serves brasserie fare which is so popular that reservations for dinner are booked months and months in advance. So lunch was our only chance to sample Yves Camdeborde’s cuisine. We started with a nicoise salad and ordered their entrecote (chunky thick steaks cooked rare, of course, served with potato wedges fried in goose fat). We shared a carafe of their house white wine. It was divine.
After our amazing lunch, we walked across the Seine towards the Louvre. The queue outside the Pyramids was daunting (today the Louvre is open late which may explain the long lines at 3:30 in the afternoon). So we decided to walk over to Tuileries Garden which is when the heavens opened up and it started to absolutely pour. We ran to the Tuileries metro station and headed back to the hotel.
That evening after our very heavy lunch, we had another light dinner of cheese, bread and wine back at the hotel.