After a 2 course breakfast in the apartment consisting of muesli croustillant fruits rouges and scrambled eggs on toast made from delicious grainy bread from the Paul boulangerie et patisserie a couple of doors along the street, .....
'
Not where we are staying!
This is the front door into the courtyard from which we go up 5 floors to our attic appartment. Usually this door is open and the front enrtance is a shop!
We set off on a long walking route to explore the local area and to find a few of the famous
landmarks such as cafes - Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore - located near the oldest standing church in Paris - the imposing Eglise St Germain des Pres, built in the 11th Century.
landmarks such as cafes - Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore - located near the oldest standing church in Paris - the imposing Eglise St Germain des Pres, built in the 11th Century.
Below is Cafe de Flore on the corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue Saint-Benoit, is one of the oldest (set up in the 1880's) and most prestigious coffee houses in Paris, celebrated for its famous clientele such as Pablo Picasso.
We continued on and found ourselves by the Seine.
Too many locks - I find them quite ugly view spoilers!
We then walked to Place St Michel to see the beautiful Fontaine Saint-Michel, with its massive pink granite columns and numerous dragon water spouts. It was designed and built in the late 1880's by architect Gabriel Davioud, part of the great project of Paris overseen by Baron Haussmann.
The impressive pink granite columns and dragon water spouts of St Michel's fountain.
Then on to Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame Catherdral.
The views from he back are just as good, especially to see the sprawling buttresses.
We crossed Pont St Louis to wander through Ile St Louis
A beautiful facade!
A shop in Village St Paul
Then on to Place des Vosges - said to be one of the prettiest squares in Paris - all houses connected and exactly the same, built around a square with green lawns and fountains and plenty of bench seats on which to rest and enjoy the view. Famous French port and novelist Victor Hugo lived in an apartment in the SE corner for 16 years with his wife Adele from 1832-1848 and it is where he died in 1885 Maison de Victor Hugo is now a musée which I visited last time in Paris.
.........then on to Place de la Bastille
We are now feeling quite at home in our little apartment Rue de Buci in St Germain des Pres, which really comes alive in the afternoon, with all street tables full of people drinking and eating at the cafes and restaurants such as L'Atlas and Le Comptoir.
View from our window - sunset over the rooftops
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