A Day with Claudia, May 11

  Today we tried a new bakery, Hulé in our neighborhood.  

At 11:00 we met Claudia Butler at Le Flor en L'ile on the Ile St Louis where we all had coffees. Then we walked via the Pantheon to Le Cafe de la Nouvelle Mairie.

It was a lovely French restaurant. We started with white asparagus with crushed pistachios. Barbara had a gazpacho. Mark and Michael both had sausages with lentils. And, Barbara and Nancy had white fish in a cream sauce. It was all very delicious.           

Claudia has been here for several months after doing a short course in perfumery in Grasse. She has an apartment in Paris near the Picasso Museum. She seems so happy here.

Wonderful lunch! Claudia in the reflection

After lunch we walked to the Luxembourg Gardens and shortly thereafter, Claudia went a separate way. We all walked down Boulevarde St Michel to the river doing a little window shopping and a little food shopping (Monoprix) along the way. 

Luxembourg Gardens

Later, we all walked to the BHV department store. Mike and Nancy stayed and Mark and Barbara left, not being very interested in shopping, especially with carry-on luggage to think about. We walked around the Ile St Louis and found where we rented 4 years ago and read the plaques about the people who have lived there from Marie Curie to Georges Pompidou.

Sunset over the Seine

Then we sat on a bench on a bridge and waited over an hour for the sun to set. It was very relaxing. Mike and Nancy went to the Eiffel Tower to see the sunset and to see it lit up. They took the Metro back.