4. Paris: Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday  By time we woke up (not that late), the weather had changed into drizzle.  We had heard what we thought were harder raindrops during the night.  So, after enjoying morning coffee, we took Citidine’s umbrellas and walked one block to the Breguet-Sabin Metro stop where we caught #5 to Gare Du Nord and walked to the right down Rue Dunkerque until we saw the white cupola of Sacre Coeur peaking (or peeking) from between two tall lines of buildings.  The stairs were crammed with immigrant vendors selling cheap Paris souvenirs, so we skirted along the edge of the hill, climbing steps next to the Funicular.  The concrete stairs were very steep.  

It turns out, after watching “Midnight in Paris” that those are the steps Gil and Adriana descend when he gives his “ode” to Paris.  The one that goes “There’s no place in the universe as great as Paris.  There is nothing happening on Jupiter or Saturn.”  But we didn’t know this yet and we had to stop 3 or 4 times to catch our breath and turn around to stare at the beautiful panorama of Paris stretching out from the vista of Montmartre.  There was a sort of light drizzle all the time.  Once at the top, we edged inside the church. 

Eli on the steps in front of Sacre Coeur

Then we followed signs further up the hill to the Place du Tertre.  We passed 5 or 6 "artists" carrying sketchbooks, who'd render your portrait or caricature if you paid them enough.  As we threaded through knots of tourists massed around the vendor's shops, I knew if we found Rue Rustique, turned right and followed it downhill to Rue Norvins, inevitably we’d get to Rue Lepic and find a good restaurant, which was just the way it happened.  Luck was with us and after walking down slick, wet cobblestone streets that looked exactly like Utrillo paintings, complete with drizzle and rain, we found Restaurant Basilic—a warm, wooden-beamed authentic bistro with a 11.90 Euro Dejeuner menu.  That dejeuner turned out to be the best and least expensive meal we had in Paris.

LT with rillettes de sardines at Basilic

Eli had pork, and I had 3 fine duck legs.  We started out with incredible rillettes de sardines--like a finely minced mousse of sardines on thin slices of baguette.  At a table not far away, father was dining with his 5 year old daughter .  She was like something out of Alice in Wonderland, with long blonde hair and two dolls that she took turns feeding.

After lunch, we continued to walk in the light rain, down Rue Lepic which takes a crazy 90 degree turn and eventually changes into Rue des Abbesses, and where we later found Les Abbesses Metro.  Before this, we ambled around this wonderful area filled with trendy shops, small eateries, larger restaurants.  Very French-looking.  It took us 3 different Metro lines to get back to Breguet-Sabin—first the #12 down to Concorde, then the #1 eastward to Bastille, then the #5 back up to Brequet Sabin.  But it was worth it to have that walk down Rue Lepic to Les Abbesses.  When we left the metro station, we saw the same woman in the booth who had sold us our 4 metro tickets that morning.

Eli leans on red car.  Basilic is in background
covered with green ivy.

Thursday.  It seemed too cold to rain, so we didn’t bother to take Citadine’s umbrellas.  Big mistake.  We walked down Rue du Chemin Vert, crossed Blvd Beaumarchais, trekked down two blocks of Rue du Pas de la Mule, crossed through Place des Vosges, cut into Hotel Sully, walked down Rue San Antoine until it became Rue de Rivoli, then cut towards the river when we reached Hotel de Ville.  

Josephine Vannier chocolate shop, where bottles, guitars,
everything is made of chocolate.

We walked along Seine embankment, crossed at the pedestrian bridge Pont des Arts where the rails are totally covered with brass locks young couples by, put their initials on and lock onto the railings.  Then we kept walking on the other side of the Seine past the bouquinistes (booksellers) until we reached the Musee D’Orsay.

Impressionist pictures on 5^th floor were glorious, almost too many.  There were four different Monets of the Cathedral at Rouen he painted in the 1890s.  When we left, it was starting to drizzle, but we found the Rue de L’Universite and took it east until we got to St. Germain and walked left.  We had intended to eat at Le Comptoir du Relais in L’Odeon, but it was packed out onto the sidewalk, so we followed Rue Dupuytren up to Rue Monsieur le Prince, and took it two blocks to the left and located Restaurant Polidor, where the protagonist of Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” meets Hemingway. 

LT with beef bourguignon at Polidor's.

Eli lunching at Polidor's

LT in front of the Polidor bar.

The restaurant has been there since 1845 and seems right out of a Balzac novel.  Very authentique!  Even as a “squat” toilet.   Eli had a curry and LT opted for the “boef bourguinon.”  LT thought the gravey was a bit too thick on the beef.  But we enjoyed being out of the rain and inside such a historic restaurant.

LT in front of Polidor's in the rain

Another shot of LT in front of Polidors.

We walked home by retracing our steps to L’Odeon on the Boulevard St. Germain and taking it in a giant arc until it reached the Pont de Sully.  From there, it was easy to cross to the right bank of the Seine and “tack” our way along smaller side-streets, for example, past Bofingers trendy, expensive restaurant, , until we got to the Rue Chemin Vert and were home.  We dined in our Citadine’s room.