MAY 12
Our goal for today was modest in the extreme. Get some “authentic” french gifts at a local supermarket and get food for dinner at a farmer’s market next door.
We had great success with part one, but the farmer’s market let us down as we were specifically seeking 2 items: White asparagus (which they had) and Rotisserie Chicken (which they did not).
Of course on our way back to the peniche to drop off our morning loot, we had to stop at a playground. Unfortunately, on the way into the playground we passed the most disgusting sidewalk corner we’d seen to date. By the moisture stains, it made for a popular urinal for the local homeless, and while feces are very common on the side walk, they are not generally accompanied by toilet paper…
On the bright side, there were parrots flying round the playground and that was pretty neat.
Possibly the best food find of the trip to date is the Artisan Boulager just up the road. By now we’ve sampled sandwiches from many establishments around the city, and none have beat the quality of our local spot.
After lunch, we headed off to the Marche Aligre for our rotisserie chicken. It turned out that the flea market there was also in full swing today, so we browsed through, and I bought some underwear and socks. The girls played at the incredibly busy playground near Ble Sucre for a bit before we headed back, picking up a chicken on on the way.
Also, at this point in the trip we have sampled a fairly (in)decent amount of wine and the reds are fair in the 4-12€ range, with no discernable difference between top and bottom of range. Below 4€ the quality deteriorates rapidly. The whites have all be reasonable, but the rosés have all been excellent, and it is extremely difficult to find one for over 4€. At 2:30 we opened one we just bought at the Monoprix for 1€97. Insanely cheap considering I paid 3€ for 500ml of water yesterday. It was a rosé made from Syrah which now makes us want to try making some syrah rosé…..hmmmm Do I see a couple of tons of Syrah from the Okanagan in our future?
May 13
Hardware stores are one of the things we try to hit no matter where we go travelling. Like grocery stores and pharmacies, they are one of the best places to see truly different aspects of daily life. We actually bought some cool light switches for the Trillium, and enjoyed ourselves when we were’t corralling the children.
On the way there, we hit 1 playground, 1 cafe and 1 carousel. In the way to our next destination (the market at place Monge) we grabbed lunch in a boulangerie and ate it in the grounds of Notre Dame, which was also playground number 2.
Jill and I have reached the conclusion that the most interesting part of Paris is the Latin Quarter. Our walk through the area today, that conclusion was reinforced. Our walk included an ancient roman arena and a stop at a locksmith where we purchased a super cute float box for using at the Quadra Island farmer’s market. At Marché Monge we got our Poulet Roti, some sausage and some super stinky cheese.
After a brief stop at playground #3, we walked back through the Jardin des Plantes and hit carousel #2.
Our attempt at a relaxing afternoon on the peniche was an utter failure. The girls will not let us just sit, so it is not relaxing at all, unless we put on the TV, which we hate to do. So at 4 we gave up and went out for a Batobus ride to the Eiffel Tower, rode carousel #3, came back, put the kids in front of the TV (6:30pm, so felt okay about it) and opened a bottle of rosé.
May 14
Croissant and pain au chocolat at Blé Sucré made for a nice bookend to the trip, plus the playground there was good and the girls had fun. Unfortunately it was too early for any poulet roti to be ready, so we went back to the peniche to pack and relax.
I went out to get lunch from the boulangerie and the sandwiches were once again excellent.
Relaxation and our two little monsters are not mutually compatible, so we gave it up as a lost cause and took them to the playground at the Jardin des Plantes. We also fit in a tour of the conservatory and a ride on the carousel.
Dinner was the contents of the fridge chopped up and placed on the table for random picking. It was delicious seeing as the fridge contained mostly sausage and cheese, with a few vegetables to round it out.
After about an hour it was time to walk the creatures again, so we went over to the Batobus for a farewell cruise. Ru wanted to go all the way to the Eiffel Tower, but that seemed a bit too long, so we hopped off at the Champs Elysees and walked back to the Musee d’Orsay. We missed one boat by about 2 minutes (we watched it pass us, park and leave) and ended up catching the same boat we disembarked from on the far side a half hour prior.
The girls were still full of beans and had a bath before going to bed at 9pm. Tomorrow we will wake them up at 6 and head for the airport. Should be a hoot.
