Another day in Par(ad)is(e)

Thanks for your comments Gqyelene, M&D! It's great to hear from you - and pretty amazing we can do it when you think about it.

My plan for a sleep in apparently worked well. Couldn't hold my eyes open past 9pm (went out at 6 for dinner to keep myself awake) so stopped trying. Woke up a few times this morning before cursing noise coming from adjacent rooms - until I realised it was probably the cleaners as it was 10am! Got myself ready by 11 so that was pretty good. Suzanna I have used the element last night for a cup of tea & this morning for a coffee after visiting the supermarket last night. No fridges in rooms of course! Have had to use the windowsill again for milk but it's the best thing available & will suffice, although the weather isn't that cold.

So the supermarket was shut today (? Sunday) but this made me notice the local produce market opposite which was great. Full of seafood, meat, deli, fruit & veg as well as some hot food joints & a jewellery stall or two! Took lots of photos, bought some fruit & went down a nearby street which is pretty famous in this area - Rue Mouffetard. It's a narrow street winding down a slight hill & full of bakeries, seafood shops, cheese shops, tearooms & street stalls. Walked down & back then couldn't resist some quiche lorrqine & lemon tart takeaway for lunch.

Went to the Pqris Observatory by train & stopped in the gardens to have that lunch. Man, they can make lemon tart but I'd forgotten that quiche must be mqde on pure cream - very rich! And I think it was the nutmeg that kept repeating on me most of the qfternoon.

Unfortunately, the Observqtory is temporarily closed, only hqving a small exhibition open. So I walked the length of the Luxembourg Gardens to find the next thing on my list - the only surviving marble metre rule in situ in France! Recently I read a book & discovered that it was the French who "invented" the metric system & measured the metre. 2 guys spent a decade of their lives measuring the length of the meridien that passes through Paris, & from this the length was calculated. Anyway, at one stage the New Metres were distributed & this one's in a wall opposite the Luxembourg Palace. The book told me so! Well, it was interesting to me...

Spent an hour lounging on a chair reading around the fountain of the L. Gardens. Checked my list of Must Do's & Like To Do's in Paris, to discover The Pantheon was all I had left. So thumbed through the guide book & found some Old Galleries/ Arcades in an area I haven't been to that's still fairly central. Trained it there & with the help of an inadequate map, found my way by local signage. They were set up in the early 19th century to entice windowshoppers - with a new concept of covering the walkways with vaulted ceilings of panes of glass held up with lightweight metal. Unfortunately theshops were all closed (Sundays!!!) but made nice windowshopping material! Sarah, I thought of you when there was a whole window full of Johnny Depp posters.

Came back via the Royal Palace which had formal gardens & an outdoor sandpit. Stopped for a cup of tea (nanna) & walked back past the Louvre to the Latin Quarter & this internet cafe along the Seine. Planned to have dinner here so it worked out well.

May not be able to blog for the rest of the week as I think I'll be out of range. M&D, got both your texts. Also left a msg on your home phone tonight but I think I went the wrong way adjusting time so it's lucky you didn't answer. In fact I think you're up the coast. Would have been ungodly hour of the morning...

Bye for now,
Belle xxx

PS have already taken over 2 films. Good for scrapbooking I guess!