Rick and Marie's Travels: Ansieres-sur-Seine & Paris

Arriving at Asnieres

We have a fabulous AirBnB in our favorite Parisian neighborhood. It feels really good being in familiar surrounds. Took a short stroll under the railway and into the village and had lunch at Le Cercle Cafe. Afterward, we walked across the street to Monoprix (grocery store) and picked up Galettes Bretonnes butter cookies, Bonne Maiman lemon tartlets, and a wedge of Comte cheese, a sharp cheese we love with crackers or a baguette.

And then we took a rest at 5PM to wait for the cooler evening before taking a walk. It's 80F (24C) and sunny and the prediction is for more sun and similar temperatures until we leave Sunday. We'll have to pace ourselves during the "mad dogs and Englishmen" heat when we're downtown.

We shared a Ceasar salad.

Asnieres & Paris—First full Day

We slept well last night and still rose at 7AM. Washed our faces, brushed our hair and then walked over to Landemaine for petit dejeuner. We sat outside with our croissants and cafe au laits as we watched the folks scurrying to the train station on their way to work. This is when I really appreciate being retired. Nothing beats the everyday feeling that it's Saturday.

We weren't in any hurry today. After breakfast we took showers and caught the RER (commuter train) to Saint Lazare train station. The plan was to walk toward the Louvre, over to Il de la Cite and see how the reconstruction of Notre Dame was progressing. After that we thought we'd walk into the Marais for a falafel lunch at L'as du Fallafel, a cafe we enjoyed more than once before finding out it was the #1 falafel place in Paris.

What actually happened was that we didn't make it to the Marais. Instead, after walking 5.5 miles to Notre Dame, we crossed over to the Left Bank and had lunch at Cafe 65. It was around 80F (24C) so we were eager to find a shady place to relax and refuel. This turned out to be the right decision, because our 1.5 hour lunch break was exquisite.

After lunch we strolled Il de Louis hoping to find gifts/souvenirs. Nothing caught our eye so we walked up to the Chatelet Metro station and rode up to the Opera station, planning to walk through Lafayette Galleries and Print Temps malls. We were pretty sure we could find something made in France at one of these two huge shopping meccas.

We're glad we caught the Metro to the Opera station, because it shaved off 3 miles and we'd already walked 9.5. After truly getting lost in both humongous malls, we did find something made in France in Print Temps. Caught our RER back to Asnieres and were back "home" by 5pM. We rested for an hour and then strolled over to our village center for a drink at Le Cercle and then walked across the street to the Monoprix for light supper fixings.

It was a good day. Maybe tomorrow we'll have a falafel lunch in the Marais.

The selection at Landemaine is extensive.

Landemaine serves a proper-sized
cafe au lait. We were keeping Richard,
Marie's brother, in our thoughts
because he would be undergoing
his second brain surgery on this day.
And then, after sipping off the foam
from our coffee, we saw another
reminder.

The crowds at the Louvre were crazy huge! We're
just passing through on our way to Notre Dame.

Rebuilding Notre Dame after the fire.
The crane stands in the place of the
spire—for now.

Notre Dame from behind. She looks
naked without the peaked roofs and
the spire.

Grand stands have been erected facing the grand
old lady. They were filled with folks just sitting
and staring at the front facade.

The Seine isn't just for tour boats. We watched
several barges moving up and down the river.

After walking 5.5 miles we stopped for
a lunch break. We were enticed by this
restaurant, because it was in the shade
and there were light breezes along the
Left Bank. Basically, we were happy
to get out of the 80F (24C) heat. Is it
really June 1st?!

Looking into Cafe 65 from our table.

This cutie arrived shortly after we did.

Looking toward the Seine and a second

hand book seller. There are many of

these stalls along the Seine, a tradition

reaching as far back as 1650. Today

everything from vintage movie posters

and rock concert advertisements are for

sale. I'm not sure how authentic many

of them are. We even saw a poster

of Billie Eilish done in the style of the

famous Obama poster during his first

run for president.

Our main lunch course was salmon on rice pilaf
seasoned with saffron, curry, and red peppers. The
salmon skin was crisp and delicious, but more
importantly, the salmon steak was perfectly cooked.