We started our day planning to go to the Salvador Dali exhibit at The Pompidou museum in Les Halles (Le Marais). It's a happening area in and around the Museum, which we enjoyed, but when we got inside we were told that the wait to get in to see the Dali exhibit was at least 1-1/2 hours. So we decided to go and see the Brancusi exhibit nearby, and come back to the Beaubourg (another name for the Pompidou) on another day.
Then we mosied around Le Marais area, literally means swamp, which it was in the 13th century. After the aristocracy drained it and moved in, over the years Le Marais has become an artsy, sophisticated area with loads of beautiful apartment buildings, shops and people-watching...
The most beautiful example is the Place des Vosges. This huge pink brick square is so ancient but so beautifully restored that it takes your breath away. Many celebrities have lived there over the centuries, including Victor Hugo. Now there are restaurants, cafes, antique and art galleries all around the Place under the porticos of the buildings. We bought an Affiche, an advertising bulletin, for one of the galleries with a painting on it that we liked, actually of Times Square, because we could not afford to buy the real painting...we'll have the poster framed and that will remind us of where we were in this beautiful Place. Even though Place des Vosges is old, it now has WiFi in the park in the middle of the square. So the park attracts not only people strolling, and lovers kissing, and lots of Mamans and Nannies with their kids playing, but also lots of people there just for the Internet connection. It's all so charming.
It's getting dark now so we decide leave and to have a quiet dinner at home tonight. We take the Metro from station Chatalet and notice that there are plexiglass walls along the entire platform, with sliding doors which open when the train arrives. What a great idea to prevent accidents on the tracks, something NY should think about having...it would definitely save lives! We arrive at our stop, St. Placide, on the #4 line and go directly to the Epicerie (delicatessen) store, a complete city block of gourmet food, part of the famous Bon Marche Department Store. It's convenient to have this grand store so near to our apartment. We buy cheeses, pâté de compagne, a baguette, half a French spit-roasted chicken, some ratatouille and lentils, and of course a tarte Tatin (famous French apple tart), and a bottle of good Bordeaux wine, and proceed home to dine, and go straight to bed. We're pooped after 6+ hours of walking.
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