Cloudy with sun shining through.  It was a beautiful day for walking.  A warm coat, hat and scarf with gloves helps a lot in January though.  

I have been looking for a map that I could put on my blog.  This one is not too bad. However when I look at the street map with the street names, the distance we walked today looks so much further.  Partly because we got on the wrong street and went at least a half mile out of our way.  We started at our apartment and were gone for about three and a half hours.  We walked past the Ecole Militaire and towards the Tour Eiffel.  Across the river to Trocadero and the Palais de Chaillot.  Can you see in the picture with the fountains how green and clear the water looks?  

From there we set off to the Arc de Triomphe.  As you can see there is a bit of construction going on.  

Naturally we always enjoy walking along the Champs Elysees.  The sidewalks are so broad that it feels comfortable to walk hand in hand.  The only picture that we took was one with me and Mickey Mouse at the Disney store.  Mickey was all dressed up while I was in my jeans and warm coat.

We had talked about walking to Concord and taking the Metro back to the apartment but it was so nice that we just walked home.  We walked back along Churchill street next to where the Grand Palais is located.  Going to the Concorde would have been out of the way walking. 

Yesterday we just set off walking and ended up by Notre Dame and the Hotel de Ville. The day before we had walked all of the way to Montparnasse. However, it is always reassuring when you think that you can hop on the Metro and end up on your doorstep at l'avenue Motte Piquet.    Those are the moments when I think I can live with the rumbling of the Metro.  

When Marla came to visit we walked so, so much.  Even though she is so fit, she would say, "I can see the Eiffel Tower.  We are almost home."  And it never failed to lift my spirits and dragging sore feet.  

The crepes in the old fashioned truck were tempting but they were all made with sugar or jam.  I want one with Jambon and Fromage.  I'll wait.

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.  

Today

We walked from our apartment to Montparnasse-the huge black building that sticks out in the Paris landscape.  I honestly had no idea that it was within walking distance.  We went to the  gare there and bought our passes for the metro for February.  My reward was that we took the metro back.  We had to change at La Motte Piquet -Grenelle, but I was so delighted that we actually changed and came out at our local metro station instead of walking back from the station by Monoprix.  

The Professor and I make a great pair.  He is limping from his foot that has bothered him off and on since 2010 when he got to wear a big black boot.  I have something wrong with my little toe on my right foot.  It has been swollen to about twice the size of the one on the left foot for about three weeks and it hurts just to put on shoes.  So we are both limping.  

I keep thinking that I am going to get used to the rumble of the metro under our apartment but so far I have not.  Even though I don't feel it every time, I still hear and feel the trains passing under us.  

The professor has not decided that the only place he is going to buy bread is the boulangerie that is over on Saint Dominic.  I had forgotten how hard the crust can be on a baguette.  Lots of crunch.  

United Protestant Church of France located at 147 rue de Grenelle

Saint Jean Eglise

I did not go inside and buy any of the tempting pastries.  This shop is on rue Cler.  Saturday we saw several children sitting on the pastries.  One was asking to have his photo taken.  Just like me.  

Thanks to my niece Heidi, I have been inspired to go brioche and chocolate shopping.  She took the time to look Francois Pralus up on the internet.  I am so glad that she did.  I am going to check out not just their chocolate but their famous Praluline.  

The Professor is a big fan of noodle soup.  

Yesterday I heard sirens coming down the avenue where we live.  When I looked out of the window, I saw a convoy of police vans and a bus containing officers on their way to the Day of Anger protest.  The current president of France, Hollande, is considered the most unpopular president in the country's history.  Over 200 protesters were arrested.



All of this was a reminder that the apartment here just above the metro stop for the Ecole Militaire is a prime spot to watch protests in Paris.  In the fall  of 2007 we got to watch the huge intersection here clogged with taxicabs and drivers for several hours.  The intersection is one where more than four roads converge.

The Professor and I spent Thanksgiving of 2011 in Helsinki.  He was teaching at the University of Helsinki and I was taking pictures and writing a blog.  Even though we had spent three months in the apartment in Paris, whenever I have thought of going to Europe this year, all I could see was the apartment on Liisankatu in Helsinki.

As you can see when you compare the two apartments, we had a large apartment with lots of advantages in Helsinki.  A large kitchen and dining room as well as two large bedrooms, a study and a comfortable living room.  These pictures were taken when the Fulbright grantees came to the apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Elizabeth came to my rescue and came early to cook and get hot food ready for our guests.
She was in Finland doing a study of a species of butterfly.

The apartment in Helsinki had a WC (water closet) as does the apartment here in Paris.  However, as you can see the toilet room in Paris comes in a distant second.  So does the cluttered room in Paris that houses a tub with a shower and the laundry equipment when compared with the very modern shower/laundry room we enjoyed in Helsinki.  And there is no possible way to compare water and heat supplied by a geothermal source in Helsinki with an unheated bathroom here.  

I will get used to the apartment here at 41 avenue de la Motte Picquet and will probably miss it when we eventually go back to the United States.