I planned on getting the bus there , but yesterday afternoon had difficulty with google maps and my brain. Long story but the result was that it only took me 40 minutes to get there when I thought it was going to take 55 minutes, so I had plenty of time to wander round this particula part of Bellevile. I found where I was going, it wasn't open when it said it would be, I wandered some more and found several of the new breed of pastry/ bread / coffee shops with a few table and chairs ( these shops are nearly always painted white walls the light timber furniture.) ( and the few that I have asked donot have loos) But I did find a modernised corner bistro and had a decent coffee and piece of cake. The shop I was going to go to was open when I went past. But I am not making another trip.
Then I just wandered back towards the wool shop, 11km . There was definitely a slower, weekend , pace, not the bustle of weekdays. When I was almost at the wool shop I started to look for a lunch spot which I found. I had a whole fish. Normally I never choose this, but I fancied a glass of wine so thought I could take my time over the fish. I was sitting inside but had a good view of the passing parade. Then , to flaunt all my rules at once, I had a desert and then a coffee. ( i only occassionally have a desert and only occasionally wine and certainly never both at the same meal) I think i was there for almost 2 hours, but the staff didnot mind. Then I went to the wool shop, then I sat in the nearby huge church ST eustache for a bit. I started walking back here by crossing the seine on 1 of the foot bridges and stopped to listen to 1 of the bands that play on the foot bridges on the weekend. I started to move off, thought what's the rush and stayed for ages. 8 piece brass mainly - 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 Sousaphone, 1 drums, 1 sax. They were clowns too. In one oft played theme song to a war movie that I recognised but cannot name, 2 of the trumpet players were walking around as if creeping through the bush holding their trumpet as a rifle.
A bit further on I was a bit annoyed, I wanted to walk up a street that I had not been along before but there was a protest of some group, most of them older folk, but there was still several police vehicles, quite a few police. This group got to the street before me and they were going fairly slowly., taking up the whole width of the street. Some disgruntled car drivers. So there was a group of people who were walking very slowly behind the police, me included, all chatting in a variety of languages . But after a while I got past the protesters by walking 3 sides of a rectangle. I left home at 8.50 and got back at 4.45. A longish day for me, but tonight France goes off daylight saving and I get an extra hour in bed.
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