Sunday in Paris

After unpacking (tons of closet space here), we set out to explore the 'hood.

The fishmonger:



And me, waiting on line for what was just voted "The Best Baguette in Paris." My New Yorker friends know I'm not one for lines, but trust me when I say it was worth it!



We planned to go to the 5:00pm free concert at the American Church, so hopped on the metro to the Left Bank.

The French love to play outside on the weekends. Here are some playing le football (oh yeah, in front of the Hotel des Invalides):



Hundreds of folks rolled by us (oh yeah, they're in front of Le Grand Palais). It was quite a site:



Tom's favorite bridge is the Pont Alexandre III (mine is the Pont Neuf, at the opposite end of the spectrum!):



This statue of Lafayette was donated by American school children. I don't remember ever having seen it:



The Flame of Liberty. This is right above the Pont Alma tunnel - where Lady Di's car crashed. Along that low wall, there are tons of messages to her.Shortly after her passing, the area around the flame was just covered in flowers.



Tom spotted these door handles on a building:



The concert at the church was great! A soprano named Kathleen Hawkins (accompanied by piano during the first half, and an awesome classical guitar player during the second) performed a mix of music. And I mean mix: Strauss, Mozart, Puccini, Gershwin, Sondheim; plus Spanish and Gospel!! Great thing to do on a jetlag day.



I got verklempt walking back. Paris is SO gorgeous at night and I am so lucky to be back here with Tom.



When I told Tom I wanted frozen food for dinner, he looked at me like I was nuts - as he should have! But I have been hearing about Picard for awhile now, and figured this first night would be a great time to try it. Really cool store - all frozen, but great stuff: appetizers, entrees, desserts, ethnic, veggies.

This is my lapin in olive sauce. Does it look like Swanson to you?



Tom had the beef tongue with pommes purees (mashed potatoes) which was delicious, but not picture-worthy. We had a side of lentils with lardons (because you gotta have your lardons), all washed down with a Cahors. Life is good.

I realized yesterday that the blog was on Pacific Time...? It is now on the proper Paris time. And with that, it's getting late, so off we go. Happy Valentine's Day, all!