If you’ve been to Paris, and maybe even lived here, then you know what I’m about to say,. And if you haven’t been here, you know what I’m about to say by reading these blogs.   Every street in Paris is has shops one after the other tempting you with gorgeous displays of pastry, bread, cheese and chocolates.  It is impossible to meander in and out of these streets and not succumb at least a little bit.   The other day, we walking along St. Dominic to Rue Cler when we came across a pastry shop where the assembly of one of these pastries was being done in full view — in the window.  These were relatively small ‘pop-it-in-your- mouth pastries that looked simply delightful.  We went back and forth in front of the shop and then finally went it.  We ended up buying a big round pastry filled with chocolate bits.  As the sales woman handed us the bag, she said, “It is very good — you won’t be sorry,”    Surreptiously, we broke off bits of the pastry — a cross between a croissant and a brioche –finished it before we reached our bus.  And, again today, we did the same thing with two delectable individual size brioches from a place called, Pastry of your Dreams (or something close to that).  We planned to take them home to have as a snack, but the truth was we were very hungry and so finished them before we were too far down the street. 

Below on the top shelf you can see the round pastry we bought — sweet and soft with chocolate bits.

The entrance of this pastry shop has a huge magnificent chandelier.  It gives quite an elegant feel to the work of baking.

And on Rue de Bac, a street well-known for its elegant shops, there is more to delight the senses.   Here, the pastries and chocolates are presented in such as way that they almost seem like fine jewels — albeit, edible!  

Enough of food — at least for a while. Yesterday we went to Châtillion, a small town on the south-west border of Paris, to see an art show (vernisage) at the Maison des Arts.  We knew about this through a good friend who supports artists helping them to become better know.  It took about an hour to get there by bus.  We went to the last stop on bus #28 to Porte d’Orleans and transferred to bus #388 (using the same tickety).  When we got to the stop we noted that the bus was parked in what looked like the middle of the street — without a driver. It seems he was a bit early so he just parked his bus in the middle of the lane (marked bus) and went off for a rest or a coffee.  We all thought it was hilarious.  He did come running back at one point making it clear that he had his eye on the bus.  

We didn’t have time to walk around, but above is a photo of the church that gives you a flavor of this little very French town.  Below is a photo of the artist with one of her iron masks.  She works in metal and is able to make it feel human and warm.  Amazing.

This installation is called Migration.  In the back you see figures, without faces in what seems to be a desert or barren region, then figures are a boat (really a piece of driftwood), and last, closes up in the photo, are these large figures coming at you – on wood stilts which more as you walk around them.  Powerful !