Wednesday in Paris

How wonderful to wake up to blue sunny skies! A very crisp morning, but who cares - I have a winter coat, scarf and gloves, who needs more?! I put on some hot water, to make my cafe in the appropriate French Press. LOVE it! It was delicious. I planned the days events while savoring it.

Today I decided to spend time in the 5e (Latin Qtr) and 6e (St. Germain-de-Pres), again meandering. A little more of an agenda than yesterday - but very loose. I took Line 4 straight to St. Michel and decided since it was such a lovely day I'd start with Jardin des Plantes (Botantical Gardens). Very similar to San Diego's Balboa Park, complete with a zoo and museums (which include Evolution, Paleontology, Entomology and Mineralogy). It was a quick visit, while the sun was out the wind was blowing, which made for a chilly visit.

Cool Slate Monument

Dedicated to this guy.

Part of the Zoo Buildings

The surrounding gardens. Lots of people exercising - not moi!

Close-up of dude.

Adjacent to the gardens is the La Grande Mosquee de Paris (Grand Mosque of Paris). I was really excited to see this place, as the guidebook really talked it up. Sadly it wasn't much from the street and I wasn't in the mood to go inside. Bummer.

It was basically a big tall wall all the way around and this tower. I did peek in the courtyard when I was walking by, but just wasn't in the mood for a religious experience, if you know what I mean. No offense.

En route to The Pantheon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panth%C3%A9on,_Paris I snapped some pics of typical French-style living.

I want to live here!

While I strolled, I stumbled upon a dime store, for lack of remembering what it was called, where I popped in to buy an alarm clock - since the clock here in the apartment still says 9:30 after 4 days. LOL Yay, now I can fall asleep and not worry about oversleeping, hence my insomnia last night - those of you who found me on Facebook at 3 a.m. Who cares, I'm on vacation!

The Pantheon is quite amazing, especially when you're not expecting it around the next corner. Wham-O!

As you approach The Pantheon, which is famous for being a mausoleum of famous dead people. Among those buried in its necropolis are Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Jean Moulin, Marie Curie, Louis Braille, and Soufflot, its architect. Built in 1790 - very cool.

This is the Place de St. Genevieve, which sits adjacent to The Pantheon and is very ornate, I tend to photograph buildings I find interesting...fair warning. I'll always try to tell you what it is.

I really liked the way the light was hitting this building.  I never bothered to see what it was until I came home and looked it up on the Internet. It's actually the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, which inherited the writings and collections of one of the largest and oldest abbeys in Paris. It was founded in the sixth century, the building construction began in 1842 and was completed in 1850. What you can't see in this picture are names of people inscribed in the facade. Come to find out, those are the names of the 810 illustrious scholars of the library. Pretty cool.

This is a view from the side of The Pantheon, as I make my way through the square. I thought this was amazingly beautiful - the picture doesn't really do it justice. In my research, it's Corinthian order, which is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Who knew? Not me. :-)

Another cool building adjacent to The Pantheon - sorry no history lesson here, I have no idea what it is, I just liked the way it curved.

At the opposite end of The Pantheon, in the distance, is the Eiffel Tower. Those are the snow clouds moving in. Brrrr. I was going to go to Musee de Cluney, which apparently is now known as Musee National du Moyen-Age, but to be honest my tummy was growling and lunch sounded better than an art collection in a former Abbey on the site of an ancient Roman bath. Hey, I've been to Italy and Spain - you've seen one Roman bath you've seen 'em all. Just saying.

Behold the Roman Bath - funny how it now has a pane glass windows. LOL

Now on to lunch, where I'm sure some of my close friends will be surprised, but I've brought meat back into my world. Maybe just for this trip, maybe not. Maybe for special occasions - but I will try to only consume sustainable meats, unless of course I'm in Paris. :-) Bring on the Steak Frites!

As I meandered toward the restaurant of choice, I strolled down Blvd. St. Michel where there were some very snazzy boutiques. I popped in a few, and quickly popped out after spying their price tags. I did however almost buy a knit beret. Just wasn't sold on the color. Lots of shopping left to do, so I know I'll find one. Hopefully tomorrow, my ears are getting cold.

My good friend Barb Makinster, her husband John and daughter Hayley, are big fans of Les Duex Musees the restaurant I chose for lunch. Actually it was very premeditated, I knew when I woke up that's where I was going for lunch. It didn't disappoint. AND as luck would have it, the Makinster's favorite waiter was on hand too. He didn't wait on me, but I made sure to get a photo with him, explaining that he was famous in San Diego - he just laughed went with it. 

He's on the right, my waiter is on the left. They were both good sports. I'm sure they were crackin' jokes when I left "crazy Americans". LOL

I decided I needed to fit one more stop in on my way back to the Marais - which by the way means marshland - thanks Brenna and Morgan. :-) I was going to go to the Musee Rodin, where I thought the infamous "Kiss" was. But after reading my travel book closer - it's just a miniture that inspired 'The Kiss', plus the majority of the exhibits are outside and let's face it - I'm cold. So I settled on Eglise St. Sulpice instead.  

Passed this beautiful building on the way to the Metro.



And those of you who know me well, know I couldn't have passed this flag without taking its photo! One word: PRICELESS!! Where do I sign-up?!

Eglise St. Sulpice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_Saint-Sulpice,_Paris a Roman Catholic church that's only slightly smaller than Notre-Dame, making it the second largest church in Paris. Unfortuantely, it's under a bit of renovation so the pics aren't that great.

There was a really cool fountain in the Place Saint-Sulpice. I think the Lion looks pissed that the bird is on his head. Heehee

Okay weird, does anyone else see that image in the water to the right of the lion? It's almost like a reflection,  but I don't know how, the sun wasn't really out - creepy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontaine_Saint-Sulpice
Here's another picture - I don't see that image...ewwww.

Well, that's weird in a DiVinci Code kind of way. I've never read the book or seen the movie but apparently this fountain was in the movie.

After this - I headed back to the 3e Arr where I popped into my local wine shop for a couple bottles of vin. One Beaujolais Nouveau and one nice Rose. Then I stopped by the Chocolatier to see what she was offering. I ended up with some dark chocolate covered almonds and she was sampling dark chocolate with champagne in the center. One word: RICH! But delicious.

I'm caught up now - will plan tomorrow's events over another French Press of yummy cafe. Would be nice to wake up to snow. Did I just say that? It must be the wine talking. LOL