Paris 2019 Day Three

It's the weekend in Paris but I didn't think about the Yellow-Vest protesters when I planned our itinerary. The Île de la Cité was our destination for the day. So after breakfast we took the #7 Metro to Châtelet and walked across the river to the Marché aux fleurs, thence to Notre-Dame de Paris to join the rest of the world at this lovely, if crowded, monument. We crossed the bridge onto the Île Saint-Louis for a stroll. Feeling peckish, however, we crossed back on the Left Bank in search of one of my favorite lunches when I was a starving professor way back when: the sandwich Grec. The one we found was good, but so little like the ones I loved so well in 1982 that it was disappointing. Our next stop was to have been the Sainte-Chapelle, but as we arrived they were pulling in the cordons and closing the doors which had been covered with fresh plywood. The Yellow Vests were coming! We decided to stick around and watch. The protesters weren't likely to do any damage in our area because their anger is more focused on the 1%, like the posh businesses on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées (last weeks protest venue), where they did some damage and many protesters were arrested. It was actually quite exciting. We will have to go back and see the Sainte-Chapelle another day. On our way back to the flat we stopped at Berthillon, back on the Île Saint-Louis, for a sweet treat of Parisian glace (ice cream). We took the Metro to Place Monge and walked up the Rue Monge to Rue Rollin. So much good food and stuff in this neighborhood!

 View into the tropical garden from our 3rd-story window

 Steps down from Rue Rollin to Rue Monge

 This is a Wallace Fountain on the steps (see above)

 Our local Carrefour City on La rue Lacépède where 

SKT and I went for a few items this morning

 Home from the supermarché

 Off for the day; this stairwell smells of old wood and

brings back many memories of previous visits to France

 Sainte-Chappell will have to wait

 Hector Guimard's Metro entrance at the Marché aux fleurs

 Wallace fountains make me happy

 Marché aux fleurs

 Old men and water

 Small Wallace Fountain

 The bells of Notre-Dame

 Working our way in with relatively small crowds

 AW lighting a candle

 Very huge, very good rose windows

 Such engineers those guys were!

 Such artisans those other guys were!

 Made us laugh

 Rue Saint-Louis en Île runs from one end of the island to the other

 Lovely little shops line the Rue

 Cookies -- sort of

 Nice biscuits for dunking, but not soft cookies

 Notre-Dame de Paris

 Used book sellers along the Quais de la Tournelle

 This guy made lunch for us in the Quartier Latin

 Good, but it didn't kill the saudades (longings)

 Quartier Latin is a Medieval labyrinth 

 Encore de le Quartier Latin

Here come the paddy wagons

 And here come the Yellow Vests

 A diverse group

 Oh! Another Wallace Fountain

 The crowd makes it easy to find

 Tea room at Berthillon

 Very tasty treats

 A fine Parisian vista

Wonderful produce (and fish behind) on the Rue Monge

A very good and exciting day in Paris. More to come, but this is all for now. Bon week-end!

OXO

D.

Post Script:

On Monday 15 April 2019, just 24 days after our visit to Notre-Dame de Paris, fire broke out in the ancient structure, destroying the roof and spire. It will likely be closed for years while the rebuilding proceeds, so we were very fortunate to be able to enter and appreciate the magnificence of the remarkable building with it long and impressive history.

Flames and smoke billow from the cathedral on
Monday 15 April 2019