Wednesday in Paris

The Wednesday we spent in Paris four weeks ago was probably the quietest day we had.  Lisa had made plans with June from the Paris Urban Sketchers group for a day trip to see Monet's garden in Giverny.  I was tempted to go but to be honest, I didn't want to give up a day in Paris to do so, at least not on this trip.  We waved them off

Lisa and June

and then Lorraine and I headed out to explore a little bit of the neighbourhood in which we were staying, including this church around the corner

and the outside of this building next door to it with the unusual (Freemason?) beehive carving over the door.

Our main purpose was to seek out the Marche de Algiers, a daily morning market I had read about.  We had no trouble finding it, a combination of fruit and vegetable market and flea market.

We found some lovely old map papers

and other vintage ephemera, including a tall, thin ledger from 1861.  Bliss!

We wandered about the neighbourhood, admiring the architecture, including this building with its gorgeous Art Nouveau windows.

We ate lunch in a small, Italian restaurant we found along the way.  The homemade ravioli was divine.

On the way back to drop off our purchases at our accommodations, we separated for a bit.  I checked out a garden walkway called the Promenade plantée, built on an old aboveground railway line.

Another view of Saint Antoine church
from the Promenade

It was quite nice and park-like but full of quiet, secluded corners and I starting feeling a bit nervous being up there alone, even though there were other people about here and there. You know that feeling in your gut that something isn't quite as safe as you'd like it to be? I heeded that internal warning and didn't linger, but wished I could have explored the walkway a bit more.  Next time!

A view from above

I then popped in to a bakery a block from where we staying and purchased a lemon tart, one of my favourite French delicacies.  Lorraine and I shared it later with fresh raspberries I'd bought at the market that morning.  Mmm, good!

We then headed out on the subway to travel line 2, having heard it goes above ground.  It does, but for only a few stops.  Most of the time, it remains in a tunnel as subways usually do, which was rather disappointing. But the views over the city streets when it is out in the open were quite enjoyable, as was the graffiti!

We switched to another subway line and headed back to the city centre to visit the BHV department store, across the street from one of my other favourite Paris buildings, the Hotel de Ville (a.k.a. City Hall).

We checked out the store's stationery and art supply sections, which were well stocked but again, somewhat pricey.  Not that we left empty-handed, of course! ;)

That evening, while waiting for Lisa to return, we ventured out again from our accommodations to a nearby pizza place that had been recommended by the owner of where we were staying.  For a mere 5 euros, we got a large sized pizza from this storefront location with the rather unusual name of "Pizzeria le coq" (= "Rooster Pizza"!?!).