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| The "Exceptionally Closed" Bookstore |
Don’t know when this will be posted as we’ve been unable to access the wifi at the apartment we’re staying in but I’m writing it nonetheless in hopes that some day it will reach my reading public (Rihanna Oglethorpe of Topeka, Kansas).
Sunday night at 10:00 boarded a Virgin Atlantic airplane that was barely half full for an overnight flight to London. I slept most of the way. We arrived at about four local time and took the underground express to Paddington station which is two blocks from our night’s lodgings. We had one of the premier rooms in the hotel and I can only imagine how tiny the non-premier rooms must be. Anyway there was room for a bed — if not much else — and a bathroom with shower. All we needed for one night.
We set out for dinner and found the Euston Flyer a lovely pub/restaurant were I got exactly what I wanted: fish and chips and a non-alcoholic beer. It was delightful and the first highlight of our journey.
Early the next morning we trudged over to the nearby train station to catch the Eurostar to Paris. We arrived safe and sound at Gar da Nord to begin our third stay in Paris (previous visits were in ’08 and ’13 and were chronicled on this blog). A cab driver took us for our ride both literally and figuratively but ultimately got us to my friend Phil’s apartment (Phil and I have been friends since high school, he has an apartment in Paris that his family has owned dating back to the late 1800s, he uses it sparingly during the year allowing other kin and good friends to stay from time-to-time).
The apartment is in the Latin Quarter — a great location — and overlooks a park that was once a Roman arena that would be filled with water for nautical fun and games.
It was a great relief to put suitcases and bags down after lugging them about for parts of three days. However disappointment was to follow as we could get neither the wifi nor the cable to work. While I was looking forward to considerably less screen time than normal, I did want to check a few things including matters relevant to our trip.
We got over this setback and went for a walk. It wasn’t long before we were dealt another blow. The line for Shakespeare and Co. books stretched to Dunkirk, we’d have to try again another day.
I was in desperate need of a hat and there were souvenir stands aplenty but I could find nothing that met my exacting sartorial standards. We enjoyed a long walk along the Seine then returned to the apartment where I had a much-needed nap.
Finally it was out into the rain to search for dinner. I love the rain but we had quite enough in the Bay Area this year and didn’t need anymore while vacationing. In any event we found a nice restaurant. No one spoke English but we managed and even enjoyed a chuckle with the waiter who I believe doubled as co-proprietor. Dinner was fine which was a disappointment given that most meals one has in Paris are splendorous.
We got lost walking home in the rain — not what we needed or wanted — but eventually returned to our digs for a long night’s slumber.
This morning we found a cafe for breakfast that the missus had read good things about. The praise was well-deserved. Breakfast was delicious and I enjoyed the fact that the two waitresses were not only charming but very cute. That I was taken by the two young ladies did not get past my darling wife but being as I’m an old geezer she didn’t mind a bit. After all I’m a perfect gentlemen not given to leering or making inappropriate remarks.
From breakfast we made our return to Shakespeare Books and Co. This time there was no line. Why would they be they were closed for the day. (Or as the sign said, "exceptionally closed." Bastards! At least I subsequently found a suitable cap, and at under nine euros.
Later we went grocery shopping, then embarked on another walk. We had a terrific dinner — scallops for me — and are finally feeling normal and in a settled sleep cycle. (At dinner there were four German gentlemen at a table nears ours. I couldn't help to think how different their presence would have been eighty years ago during the occupation.) We’ve got more plans for the coming days including trips to Versailles and Fountainbleu as well as visits to various museums (hint: one of them is called the Louvre.) Today we’re off to the D’Orsay.
Some hiccups so far but otherwise a case of so far so good.
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