Today we decided that it was time to eat some French food for lunch.  The best onion soup and boeuf bourguignon that I have eaten was in the Latin Quarter in the fall of 2007.  We set off today to see if we could find the same location.  We failed completely but decided to eat in this tourist area anyway.  The onion soup was good and the beef looked a lot like stew.  The crowning object of our lunch turned out to be my bottle of Coca Cola.  It came in at 4.50 Euros.  That is about a whopping $6.30 for a soft drink.  I probably will be sticking to plain water/tap water from now on. 

After lunch we stopped at a bookstore but it seemed to hold nothing more than graphic novels and DVDs.  At store close by there were two tables with used English books.  I finally found a James Patterson that I brought back with me.  I hope it will be an okay thriller to read.  From there we walked over to Shakespeare and Company, an English bookstore that has existed under different owners for many decades.   It opened in another location in 1919 but was closed during WW II.  The store opened again in 1951 and eventually was renamed in honor of the original store which was frequented by such authors as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound and James Joyce.  If you have been lucky enough to watch Midnight in Paris you will be familiar with it.  As you can tell I am a hopeless romantic who is in love with the idea of Paris if not entirely with the reality.  

From the bookstore it is an easy walk across the Seine River to Notre Dame, Victor Hugo's cathedral. Much to our surprise there is a huge Christmas tree still standing in front of the building.  I don't think that its tiny lights show up in this picture of it.  

My poor efforts at taking the picture cannot compare with the more professional photographs available online.  

From the cathedral we walked to the Hotel de Ville where there is currently an ice skating rink.  I was enchanted two years ago when we watched children in Helsinki holding onto sled type devises to help keep themselves balanced with learning to skate.  The same thing is used here in Paris but in much brighter colors.  I can't help but wonder if I might have learned to skate if this technique had been available when I was struggling to learn.  

The more traditional entertainment of the carousel was available for children to ride if skating was not enticing.