Monday rain, airline strikes and our last day

Monday it rained pretty much all day in Paris so we opted to stay in and work on household chores and packing for our departure Wednesday morning. Susie did go brave the rain squalls to walk over to the Bastille where she met up with Mohamed, a friend from her first days at Pascal's earlier this year. "Momo" is Tunisian and has worked as a chef in the US throughout Europe and parts of Asia. They had a fine lunch, catching up on all the news of course.

Tuesday the day dawned overcast but no rain and in fact we had breaks of sun and blue sky from time to time.

We hung around the apartment putting some final touches on getting ready to hand the keys over to Drea on Wednesday morning. We even took a quick trip over to Pascal's. After strolling through Place Leon Blum we started walking down Ledru-Rollin and soon caught the no. 61 bus to Gare Austerlitz, and walked through the Jardin des Plantes around the Paris mosque to Pascal's to see if Susie's letter of completion of her stage was ready (no). We returned through the Jardin and walked across the Pont Austerlitz and caught the no. 5 at Quai de la Rapee. We then returned to the apartment in time to meet Drea for lunch. She arrived at about 1 pm and we chatted for a bit -- it seems that one spends a fair amount of time in Paris just catching up on the news with friends and acquaintances.

The three of us walked down to the Place Leon Blum and around the corner on rue de la Roquette we stopped at La Renaissance for lunch. The wine (rouge) was mediocre, the service prompt and friendly, the food was delicious, and the company and conversation warm and thoroughly enjoyable. After lunch we walked back to the apartment and Drea eventually left to meet up with several friends for dinner. Susie and I grabbed our coats and headed for the Metro.

At Austerlitz we changed to the no. 10 and at Jussieu we switched to the 7 and got off at Place Monge. As we entered Pascal's they were still in the process of the daily afternoon nettoyage (cleaning) and still no letter. But it was a grand opportunity for Susie to say au revoir to Pascal and Jean Marc and Miss Bread. From the shop we strolled down rue Monge past Eric Kayser's upscale patisserie where we bought two croissants for the morning, and continued down toward the river but turning left (west) on Boulevard St. Germain. We continued our leisurely stroll through the heart of the Latin Quarter, past Odeon and then turned right onto rue G. des Tours, and then a quick left on the funky little rue de Buci, past the cool Taschen bookshop.

Off of rue de Buci we turned onto rue de Seine and strolled past the never-ending stream of galleries punctuated only by the occasional doorway into an apartment building overhead. Of course the street did end, brining us out at the Institut de France, just opposite the Louvre proper.

After crossing the street we strolled across the Siene one more time, walking along the pedestrian-only Pont des Arts. Midway we stopped and watched the champagne lights twinkling on the Eiffel tower. After several minutes we turned away, not wanting to see the lights go off but just letting that be our final image of the great and beautiful icon of the city of Paris.

So with the Eiffel to our backs we passed into the Cour Carree of the Louvre. Last year we had struck up a conversation with a fellow sitting next to us at a small restaurant near the Place de Italie, he worked for the city light company, and he told us to make a point to get over to the Coeur Carree to see the lights inside. And so now we have. It is something worth seeing to be sure. This is after all the city of light and the city of lights.

From the Louvre we got on the no. 1 Metro and took it to the Bastille. From there we walked down rue de la Roquette, past Leon Blum's statue all lit up and glowing like a beacon in the center of the Place named after him, and strolled back to the apartment.

It is now Wednesday morning just about 8. The bags are pretty much packed and it's just a matter of doing up some dishes and some last minute tidying up. Drea comes by at 9 to get the keys, we say au revoir and then we're off to Charles de Gaulle and Air France.

Wish you had been here, and maybe someday you will.

Steve