Wednesday in Paris

Normally the first thing I do when I arrive in a place ( or before) is make a list of things I would be disappointed to miss, things that I would like to see, and lesser things that I would be interested in but maybe less so. This time i have assorted scraps of paper with places and ideas jotted down. And , of course, I have the excel table I drew up before my trip in 2019 that has lots of places, which category ( museum, church, quite place, good coffee, etc) which arrondisysment etc ,  . This morning it was all too hard  so I just went for breakfast over the road where i had dinner last night. I was recognised. One of the 2 guys speaks quite good English but is happy to wait for my hesitant French and gently correct it.  I then went to the nearest metro station to get a transport pass thing which you load with different tickets. One of the definites to see was the Museum of Modern Art, so I set off . I had to get a map of the subway  to find out the end of the line i wanted . I cannot go down into the underground, follow signs for the relevant train line, round a few bends and know which direction I want to head in. 

I got to the museum but realised I needed more food. Normally I go out for my coffee and croissant and orange juice but have another piece of fruit and some yoghurt at home.  I forgot this morning. I was in an expensive area but thought to myself ' too bad'. Previously I would have looked a bit more around for somewhere that looked cheaper. I just marched in and asked for what I wanted. As it turned out, it was an average price. The museum was interesting. Some rooms of the more modern stuff I didnot understand at all but others I enjoyed. I did see a painting by a guy ,Robert Delaunay, whose work I   had seen in Montpellier,  of the Eiffel tower that made me smile. I bought a postcard of it to sit next to the postcard size picture of Georgia Okeefe's painting of Manhattan that I have.  I am sure nobody's interested in these details. Too bad.

Then I went outside and took a selfie just to prove I am here, deliberately unidentifiable.  Another thing to must  do  that would be on my yet to done list was visit the Saint Germain des Pres ( no accents, too hard on my tablet) .  It was about 4km I think.  But soon after i crossed the bridge to the left bank I went past the Russian Orthodox Church. I had been there last year. This time there was crime scene tape ropping off large parts of it ( there are several buildings associated with the church) and it had clearly been there a while. I felt so sorry for the Russian community who worship there that they were attacked because of 1 maniac.

It was lunch time,  I was still walking in the direction of the church.  I passed lots of restaurants. Initially I disregarded anything that was not French and also anthing that had English translations on the menu.  ( I was in the 7th approaching the 6th)  I was getting hungry so I stopped at an Italian restaurant and ha1d a lovely seafood risotto and an apple tart.  Delicious. One of my purposes in going  to Saint Germain des Pres was to see if there were any music recitals  while I was there.( I went to about 4 last time) They are often free, though they do encourage you to leave a parting donation. On the board just inside the church said that a group was playing Vivaldi's 4 seasons plus a few jthings on Sunday but at 8.30pm. I went in and just smiled. See photos below. I love the colours and the fact that it is coloured.  I sat for ages,  took a few photos. I decided that a concert that started at 8.30 was too late. I went outside and on a bigger different board was an advert for an organ recital ( better than strings for me) was on on Sunday afternoon.  How good will that be!  I must find out if I need a ticket.

I walked more, got a train and walked. I sat outside  and had a hot chocolate.  The 2 guys in the bistrot introduced me to one of the locals who was standing at the bar. He had just walked from montparnase railway station. That led to me telling them I had been to all of the 20 arrondissments in 2019.