Paris continues….

The weather changed and winter arrived today: rainy, cold and windy,  Nonetheless we got out and walked a couple of miles.

But before I tell you about today (which I will probably do tomorrow), let’s go back two days for a trip to the St. Germain area  where there are narrow streets and lots of shops, especially art galleries.  To get there we are

back on the #70 flying between the rows of parked cars, cyclists and pedestrians.  I did want to show you something though — all of the seats in Paris buses are upholstered and very comfortable.  See the one there — it is folded up to make room for baby carriages and strollers.  You can see the street ahead — it is only a little wider than the bus.

Now for Rue de Seine, some shops and art.

Fish — La Boissonnerie is one of our favorite stopping in places  — maybe lunch or dinner.  It isn’t formal, run by an Australian and his wife (who might be French or American — I’ve forgotten).  Anyway, it is a place tourists go to, as well as expats.  The bar is popular and the food is very good.  Sometimes, if we have to wait (usually in the street) for a table, the waitress will give us a basket of bread which is baked across the street.  One can buy it to take home as well.  (we haven’t done that in the last year or two, so I’m not sure if I’m spreading false propaganda)

The mosaic façade is well-known and as you can see frequented by bikers. (I’m joking!). The name is a play on words — Fish – Boissonnerie (Boisson — is a drink of any kind), thus a drinking place — drink like a fish.  (Fish and pasta are big on the menu)  The owners run a wine bar across the street, Freddie’s — get the idea? Well — the food at Boissonnerie is really good — reservations recommended!

Popelini is right next door.  I’ve never been in here and I have to wonder how they make a living out of this store.  What you see in the next photo are the only things they sell here.  It isn’t that unusual for a shop to be highly specialized like this.  If really good, they can develop a following.   Next time we go by we’ll have to  buy a few to try.

This painting was in a window without any identifying  information — no name, and no artist.  We thought it was fun and could think of a lot of things to call it.

The covering over the head above has some similarity to the sculpted piece below. This fellow came in white as well.  I was trying to think of where one would put him?? You can see how wild some of the other art in this gallery was.  The tiger below was part of this exhibition. (sorry about the reflections in the glass)

We thought this bike — a work of art — was worthy of a photo.  Note the little seat in the front.  I doubt it can be ridden.  Pretty intricate weaving.

These mask-like metal pieces are decorating the window of a women’s clothing shop. We thought these pieces each stood as an art object quite on its own.  You can see that the green on has a second face protruding out on a kind-of nose.  Each was different and we were quite taken by them (especially George).

From Rue de Seine we made our way slowly home  but not without first trying to buy some ice cream from Grom — what some think (and they are probably right) is the best ice cream store in Paris.  It is — of course — Italian!  We’ve stopped here before and recently had been reminded about it  as guests brought some for dessert to our home.  We thought we’d get some to take home. No way!  There was a man in front of us who clearly was going to monopolize the one and only sales person’s time for the next half hour , so we left . We’ve no patience1

This display of vegetables on the next corner looked just like a piece of art.  Had to take a photo of it.