I intended to get to the Pompidou centre when it opened to look at the Modern art exhibitions. I hoped that on a Saturday there may be less school groups. Maybe less scshool groups but when I arrived, about 5 minutes after it opened , the queue to get in was around the block. Not today, I thought.
It has been a few degrees warmer today and there are more people out and about than there were last Saturday. I walked past a few more bridges and wandered around the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area. It was fascinating, A real mix of quirky up-market design shops and fairly ordinary shops, lots of eating places.
I found a restaurant that was on my list as possibly affordable for lunch. It was fascinating. Apparently one of the oldest in Paris. Traditional - dark red walls, paintings, chandeliers, white tablecloths, I spent about an hour and a half there and did not look at my book once. I found out at the end that it was made up of at least 5 rooms - all mostly full. The suited gentleman who showed me to my seat seemed suitably pleased when I replied in French to his question of whether I wanted a menu in French or English that I would prefer French because I was trying to learn. He gave me the menu but I had to ask for the menu of the day -a cheaper option. I thnk this was deliberate because I saw him do the same to others. There were several groups of Asian tourists opposite me. One group all had onion soup and clearly did not like it much, I assume because they left a lot. This head-garcon was not happy about that , going on his eye-rolling and muttering , not so under his breath. One of his underlings brought my food and looked after me most of the time. He was Italian and quickly worked out that if he spoke slowly in French I could understand. I was able to ask him if there was a French expression for the Italian 'fare la scarpetta' literally make a little shoe - but really means to soak up the remains of the juice with a little bread. And what I really wanted to know - whether it was acceptable or not. I initially said I did not want desert, but changed my mind so I could watch the comings and goings. A group of 6 had come in , including one very small dog in a carry bag. It was passed around the table for everyone to cuddle and kiss! And taken out on several occassions. A nice young couple ( maybe not so young,he was 41) who lived in Toulouse were seated next to me. His English was marginally better than my French, so we managed. Needless to say, I changed me mind from no coffee to yes, please. When I think about the price , I would have paid more in Autralia for 3 courses, a coffee and a good glass of wine. And there was the floor show thown in.
I had intended to go straight back to my apartment after lunch, but changed my mind and went to the Eglise Saint Germain. It was, light and mutli-coloured. Quite delightful. Apparently one of the oldest in Paris. The building of the bell tower started in 990. There is a chapel attached to the bell tower ( locked when I was there) that was built in the 11th century.
By then I had given upon making plans and stood and listened to a group of musicians of the same decade as me ( double bass, trumpet, tromboone, banjo and funny thing that looked like a bit of corrugated iron). Then home.
Pont Notre Dame with Sainte-Chapelle in backgound
St Genevieve, patron saint of Paris
A bit of Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Pres
No comments:
Post a Comment