Monday, July 04, 2011

Paris 2011-4


1 Juillet (Vendredi) - I don't get it.  I have absolutely no trouble falling asleep, but I only sleep for two or three hours and then, I toss and turn until about seven in the morning, at which time I fall asleep for another three or four hours. 

Today, we went out, caught the 20 bus to Gare de Lyon, where we got the 57 bus to Place d'Italie and Italie2.  Robb bought a nice sweater/shirt at Jules.  We headed for the pharmacie, stopping at Armand Thierry for a quick look but bought nothing.  The pharmacie was only about half as big as it used to be.  The actual pharmacie part was like a little room in the back of the store.  There was one pharmacist working and a long line waiting.  I guess if we want something from a pharmacie, we'll have to go to a local place.  I was kind of hoping the pharmacist could suggest a good, over-the-counter sleeping aid.  

We stopped into Printemps, but again, bought nothing.  Then we went to Tati (sort of a down-trodden K-Mart) hoping to buy hangers, but found none.  Robb bought a cannister set to use at the apartment, it's so nice, we may take it with us.

Then, we left Italie2, caught a very crowded 57 bus back to Gare de Lyon, where we got the not-so-crowded 20 bus home.

We dropped the stuff off at the apartment and walked up to Franprix to see what we could find for dinner tonight.  We bought a frozen dinner; lasagna bolognaise.  It wasn't bad.  Our best buy was a box of Magnum White ice cream bars. 
    
2 Juillet (Samedi) - I slept somewhat better and even got up by 10h00.  Now, if only my breathing would improve.  

In what is becoming a daily routine, we went to the Franprix today and bought more wine, some turkey (for sandwiches) and napkins.  We found a re-usable sac (bag) so we don't have to keep using plastic bags.

We dropped our purchases at the apartment and walked down to rue de Turenne.  I wanted to find the closest 96 bus stop.  We turned right on rue de Turenne.  Lots more men's shops and everyone was selling beautiful clothes at special prices because of the soldes, which ends about the time we leave for Madrid.  We walked up to rue Froissart, which was only one of the six streets intersecting that corner.  Still didn't see the bus stop, but there was a branch of BNP Paribas, so Robb stopped and got some money.Then we started back.  We were about a block from rue Saint-Claude when I saw a 96 bus go past.  It stopped at rue Saint-Claude.  We walked down, had a look and, sure enough, there was a bus stop right there.  That's very good news, but I don't know how I missed seeing it when I looked before.

While we were admiring our good luck, we noticed that a wedding party was emerging from the church on the corner, Église Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement  The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome.  I thought about taking a picture but it somehow didn't feel like the right thing to do.  We were surprised when the bride (still in her beautiful gown) and groom (still in his expensive-looking tuxedo) didn't get into the traditional car to make their getaway, but after most of the rest of the wedding party had left, walked away.  Most unusual!

We were sitting on a bench across the street and decided to go to Comptoir Turenne for a café.  At first we sat at a table on the terrasse, but the sun was too bright and hot, so we moved to a table inside.  While we sat there, we saw another wedding party arrive and go inside.  Comptoir Turenne (formerly Le Diplomate) is the very first place in France that practically asked us to leave.  Not in so many words, but the waiter brought our chèque and waited for payment well before we actually thought about leaving.  Of course, it could be our fault for moving after we ordered our café.  Maybe he wasn't sure we were going to stick around and pay.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. 

We did eventually leave.  On the way back to the apartment, I stopped to take a picture of the church bell tower.  The tower is at the back end of the church and that puts it very close to our apartment.  I have heard them in the morning (in fact, just a few minutes ago), but they're not too loud at all.  Back at the apartment, I tweeted our friend Steve to set up a meeting for Lundi soir (Monday evening). 

3 Juillet (Dimanche) - La premier Dimanche (the first Sunday) of every month is FREE MUSEUM DAY in Paris, so we got ourselves ready, walked down and got the 96 bus across the street from the Comptoir Turenne.  We rode to the Hôtel de Ville bus stop, where we got the 69 bus to the Louvre-Rivoli stop.  We should have waited until the Palais Royal stop, but it wasn't a total waste. As we passed Rives, Robb saw saw a wallet he wanted to buy.  While he was doing that, I took a picture of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois just across the street. Then we walked down to the Carrousel du Louvre entrance to the musée, passing an interesting exhibit in front of Le Conseil d'Etat.  I really didn't think it would be that crowded, but everyone in the city must have known about free museum day.  We checked out a couple stores in the Carrousel and headed for the Place du Carrousel bus stop.

We caught the 69 bus to the Champ de Mars, the final stop in that direction.  We had hoped to stay on the bus, but the driver insisted that we leave, walk across the street to the real bus stop, and wait till he finished his cigarette.  While waiting, I took a strange picture of la Tour Eiffel (you have to look really closely, but I swear it's there).  We did that and rode all the way to the other end of the ligne 69, where we, again, left the bus, walked across the street, waited for the driver to smoke and got back on.  It gave me the opportunity to photograph the fontaine in front of the 20e Mairie (City Hall).

Around 23h00 (11:00PM) we went to a place on Boulevard Beaumarchais named Grazie.  When I looked it up on Google Street View, it showed a place named Le Balto.  It's supposed to be a pizza place, and some reviews had good things to say about the pizza.  But the drinks were way over-priced.  
  
You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011 
  
À la prochaine, mes amis.

4 comments:

Ken Broadhurst said...

Isn't seven a.m. Paris time your approximate bedtime in Florida (1 a.m.)? That would explain why your body and brain want to sleep at that hour.

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Thanks for the descriptions and the streets... knowing Paris well (and with Paris Practique in hand) I can follow your day. Sounds like fun and I hope that you are feeling good. Love your restaurant reviews, too!

Bises,
Genie

Virginia said...

You must be the bus hopping experts in Paris. I'm in awe. Glad you are out and about and having fun.
V

Megan said...

I take donormyl sometimes to sleep. It is over-the-counter and not very strong. I think it is mostly the placebo effect.