Greetings From France - Part 4

Another spectacular day in Paris. Sixty-two degrees and sunny. Supposedly, the rain comes tomorrow, just as we are leaving for the Dordogne.

This was the first day that Betsy and I have had to ourselves. Not that we didn't immensely enjoy the company of our family and friends, but it was nice to spend some time together alone.

Started out with a walk to Le Madeleine, stopping along the way at some of Betsy's favorite food haunts including Fauchon, Hadrien and Maison de la Truffe. We then wandered over to a children's wear store near L'Opera that Betsy had been tipped off to. I have mixed feelings about this stop on our itinerary as we are now carrying two very heavy bags of children's clothes on to the Dordogne and then back to New York. Granted, they were a great value and my kids will be incredibly well dressed, but c'mon!

Speaking about our kids, we are somewhat disappointed that they don't seem to be missing us. We take it as a sign that we have raised them to be emotionally strong individuals and have provided excellent care for them in our absence. Either that, or we're lousy parents. It would be nice, however, to have at least one tear shed . . .

After buying out the clothing shop we continued East to the Bourse area and found a local fresh market. We wandered some more and ended up at a simple little bar for a simple little lunch which was all our simple souls desired. Nothing fancy, just good food and good wine (yes, we have quickly become quite accustomed to having wine with every meal lunch and dinner).

For the afternoon, we each had our own agendas. Betsy wanted to find some seeds for vegetables and flowers she can't find in the US and I wanted to sit for an hour or two with a cup of coffee and a book, and watch the world go by. The problem was that I volunteered to drag the bags of kid's clothes (remember those?) back to the hotel first. It wasn't the long walk laden with packages that was causing me concern, but rather that I wanted to find a cafe afterwards that was far from the maddening crowds of the Champs Elysees and devoid of tourists. As it happened, I did not have to go too far and found a nice little cafe in a residential area on Avenue Marceau. There were no tourists and no one speaking English. Even the waiter continued to speak to me in French after I butchered my conversation with him. I spent a lovely hour there.

Later, more walking around and shopping in the area with Betsy before meeting up with Sabine for dinner way out East not too far from the Bastille. It was a bistro that had been mentioned in the April issue of Gourmet magazine and lived up to its description as having "inexpensive but fabulous food".

It is now Tuesday night (actually, very very early Wednesday morning) and our visit to Paris draws to a close. Tomorrow, we take the TGV to Angouleme, pick-up a rental car, and drive to our friends' house in Riberac in the Dordogne section of France. It has been a long time since I drove a car with manual transmission, so as long as I don't burn out the clutch my next report will be from there.

Au revoir.