Paris: day 7, a city to walk in.

Today was a day of walking lots of interesting places, some planned, some discovered by accident. The plan was to walk to St. Eustache, then to the Fountaine des Innocents and end up at the museum of Arts et Metiers.

 

First there were the breakfast pastries, of course :-)

We set off for the Right Bank, choosing the smaller streets we love so much to explore. As we neared our first destination. I chanced to see this restaurant, Au Pied Du Cochon.

Back when the nearby Les Halles was still an active wholesale center, the restaurant was the favorite place for people to get traditional French onion soup in the wee hours of the morning. I went there to do just that in 1972 after my high school prom (which was held in the Eiffel Tower).

My next surprise was finding Dehillryn, the mecca of French cooking supplies.

I convinced Bob and Genna to come inside its cramped spaces to see all the cool stuff.
They were not disappointed.

Copper !!

Great knives.

We finally made it to our first stop, St Eustache.

And our second stop, La Fontaine des Innocents.

 

By this time we were ready to have lunch and decided to sit in one of the many cafes in this area.

 Genna was excited to get a huge pot of steamed mussels.

 I enjoyed my beef "en brochette" with string beans and potatoes.







Bob was less impressed with his unknown fish and "Midwestern" vegetables.

 Our next destination was my niece's favorite: Musee des Arts et Metiers. The last time we were in Paris this museum was being renovated. We enjoyed the old scientific equipment and other curiosities.

Old microscopes.

These wooden shapes would have made geometry much easier.

This is a cross section of an old Citroen.

Probably the most famous thing at this museum is Foucault's pendulum.

By the and of our visit it was tea time and a chance to visit another place on my list.
My friend, Susan, had sent me an article about a cafe that had resident cats as their main attraction. How could we resist that temptation ??

Here we are peeking in the window at two cats grooming.

When you enter this give you a short talk about the rules and a card with a bio and photo of the various cats. Our tea was delightful as well, great raspberry tart with pistachio cream.

It was such a beautiful evening that we wandered over to Notre Dame, where the light was amazing.

And across the nearby bridge where this gent, serenaded us.

We next found ourselves at my old haunt, Shakespeare & Company. Genna perused the multitude of used books offered for sale.

 

By the time we reached our flat, we were ready for dinner and all craved oysters. Luckily there is an seafood restaurant right next door to us. The kind proprietor was willing to let us take a plate of his freshest up to our place to eat.

 

The perfect end to a delightful and full day.