Checked out of the Hotel Massena at 8am and did the 20 minute walk up to the train station. We got there in plenty of time to have a baguette and espresso before boarding. The high speed train ride to Paris took an uneventful 6 hours. I enjoyed the fascinating scenery and the changing landscape from the Mediterranean coastline up through the rolling hills and beautiful farms of southern France. We arrived at the downtown Paris train station, Gare de Lyon, by 4 o'clock. The taxi line looked long and confused so we just walked the 40 minutes to the apartment we had rented for the week. We knew it was located in the 6th Arr., but hadn't realized it was within a few blocks of where Sylvia and Frony had stayed 10 years ago on their way back from Egypt. It was kinda hard to find since it was on a remote pedestrian street, Cour du Commerce St. Andre. It's a busy little street with several good looking cafes and shops. Our apartment is on the second floor of a building that has to be several hundred years old. In the picture below it is located on the right side of the street, just past the cafe with the green awnings. We were greeted there by David, the Apartment Manager, who was extremely pleasant and provided us with more useful information than we could possibly comprehend.
 |
| Cour du Commerce Street |
It was almost 7 and we hadn't eaten since this morning's baguette, so we unpacked and walked the neighborhood looking for a place to eat - we only had about 200 to choose from. Confused, we stopped for a drink at a sidewalk cafe - there's about 200 of them too. Eventually refreshed, we quit looking and picked Le Bistrot Mazarin in the Arts District. A pretty good pick too, but I don't think it's possible to pick poorly. I had fish and Sylvia had veal, both outstanding. We spent most of the meal chatting with the interesting gentleman seated next to us from Sacramento. On the way back to the apartment we stopped at a grocery store and picked up some staples: wine, vodka, scotch, and even some water, cheesee and butter (for baguettes). We got back to the apartment after 10 and I fell asleep soon thereafter. I was contemplating getting up at 3 to watch the debate, and I have no friggin' idea why I would want to do that.
 |
| Looking left out the apartment window |
 |
| Looking right out the apartment window |
2 comments:
What a great area you are in. Sylvia, please find the patisserie that was so good. I hope it is still there.
Already did, and it's there and busy as ever. Since we were on our way to dinner, we didn't go in, but will soon!
Post a Comment