I caught the bus to its terminus in the 20th arrondissment - only about 4 km from where I am in the centre. The central part of Paris is really quite small. The main reason visitors go to the 20th is the famous cemetery, Pere Lachaise. Me, I was looking for good coffee. Plan A was closed ( despite the hours on the website), so was plan B, again,despite what it said on the website. So I took pot luck and did well. It has been on my list to sit outside at a cafe and take an hour over my coffee. The weather, or the circumstances or the outside smokers, have meant that until today I have not done this. This morning I found a cafe, slightly receased from the road that had a free table. I was not worried about outstaying my welcome because the lady next to me was there when I arrived and when I left. The cafe was OK for ordinary French coffee. The only problem was that I was reading a book on my phone and the relections were a bit tricky. Holding it under the table seemed a bit wrong , as though I was reading something furtive - a book on neuroplasticity?
I walked back to my apartment via another body of water , the Arsenal Basin , with a bridge and houseboats. It joins up with the Canal St Martin, but underground. My plan was to have lunch where I have eaten before, but it was closed, again, despite what it said on its website. In this case plan B worked. I went to a place on Ile saint Louis where I had been before. About half visitors and half locals. Next to me sat a lady and man who were Italian but had lived in London for 15 years and also spoke French and German as well as English. Mind you, she used some Italian words in the French she was speaking to the wait staff. She had said French was her worst language.
Tomorrow I will not be doing anything travel related - so no blog. I will go to a concert in a church in the afternoon.
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