Paris, Day 2

Friday night in our little quarter of Paris can be quite noisy and last night was no exception.  Fortunately we have learned that the only realistic answer is ear-plugs so we were mostly unaware and slept in a bit later than usual.  Now, Australians will laugh at this, but we have been totally unable to get Quaker Oats for making porridge when we are at home.  Other brand, yes, but the texture is different and we believe, rightly or wrongly, that Quaker Oats is the way to go. Fortunately they are available in France so, after a hearty breakfast, replete with sighs of deep satisfaction, we decided to take a walk.

We started down rue Caulaincourt and strolled along admiring the shop windows.  Virginia looked at children's clothes and toys for the grandchildren while I spent most of the time drooling on displays of pastry and cakes.  The French do both children's clothes and pastry admirably.  One of the things we noticed is even in a poorer area such as the one in which we live, both men and women are more chic than in Belgium.  It is not just the clothes, but the way in which they are worn and the way in which people carry themselves.  I suppose this is what some people believe to be French arrogance.  I think it is self-assurance.

Pastry in a shop windown

Display of "goodies."

As we walked along we passed numerous boulangeries.  Bread here, including of course the famous croissants and baguettes, are baked numerous times daily.  Because the baguettes have no preservatives, they do not keep well and often if there is any left over for breakfast on the following day, it is eaten after being dipped in hot coffee. One of the boulangeries on our walk is a favourite.  It is very old fashioned from the outside and has wonderful displays of bread and other baked goods.

A favourite boulangerie on rue Caulaincourt

We turned into rue Le Pic only to discover that there was a Saturday street market we had not seen before.

Stalls near the Metro Abbesses

 This is a busy street and one with lots of restaurants, shops and food stores.

A Restaurant on rue Le Pic

It has a wonderful wet fish market which is always very busy.

Coquilles St Jacques

A cheese stall

 In addition there are flower stalls with a wide variety of plants available.

Flowers on rue Le Pic

Prices seem lower to us for two reasons.  First, as a result of Le Crise, the economic downturn, many prices are lower in absolute terms than the were last year.  For example, breakfast in a café which a year ago would have cost at least ten euro is now around seven.  Even the restaurant just below us, Café Lola, has a lunch for eight and one-half euro which last year was twelve euro.  The second reason is the strength of the Australian dollar against the Euro.  One Australian dollar at the moment will buy about 70 Euro pence and back in January of this year it would have bought 76 Euro pence.  That is significantly more buying power than when, just about a year ago, it was only buying 60 Euro pence.

From rue Le Pic we walked to the Funicular which one can take to the Place du Tertre. 

The Funicular with Sacre Coeur in the background

 This is next to the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur and is a gathering spot for "artists."  Mostly they are touting for an opportunity to sketch the tourists or to do cutout profiles, but it is a fun place to go and to sit with a drink on the Place. 

"Artists" and tourists in the Place du Tertre

Le Troubadour, a Restaurant near Place du Tertre

 We then walked down the 192 steps back to our street and home for lunch.  Later in the day we went out again, this time to do some of our ordinary shopping. Although this is a working class area, there are many wonderful buildings.  The great majority of Parisians live in apartments, some as many as six or seven stories high.

Apartments near us

We wandered through a variety of small shops and one area which has some outdoor stalls, saw the flower seller from whom we had bought the little daffodils yesterday and after completing our shopping returned home.

Around our local shops

Flower seller