Paris

Ate a bacon and egg sandwich at a place down the street from the hotel, then walked to the Seine, and checked into taking a river cruise at Pont Neuf. There was an hour and a half wait,so I walked around taking pictures, browsing the shops on the north side of the river, including a solid block of pet stores selling everything from chipmunks to roosters. By this time it had started to rain, so I gave up on the boat cruise, walked to the Louvre, and boarded a bus for a two-hour “city tour.” It hit all the highlights (Arc de Triumph, Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde, Ile de la City, Ile St. Louis, Notre Dame), and though it didn’t stop anywhere, it was a good way to get acquainted with the various neighborhoods. Afterwards, I took a taxi to the train station (Gare du Nord) to buy my ticket for Sunday’s trip to London, then had another taxi drop me off at Notre Dame, where I spent an hour or so. From there I took a leisurely walk back to my hotel, taking pictures, stopping for a drink on a riverboat bar, browsing the bookstores (I’ve never seen so many! They’re everywhere!), savoring the sights and sounds of the St. Germain des Pres neighborhood.

One bookstore was devoted to linguistics and language – dictionaries, study guides, tapes, etc. – and another contained nothing but photography and art books. The narrow winding streets were teeming with people, accordion players providing the classic ambiance (including incidental music from Charade!), and as I negotiated through the sidewalk cafes and creperies, I was overwhelmed by one delicious smell after another.

After a stop back at my room to call Tim Taylor in London (to let him know my arrival time), I went out looking for a place to eat dinner. Stopping first for a crepe au fromage at a sidewalk stand, I settled on a place called L’Atlas (Rue de Buci), and had a feast: Campari and soda for starters, then avocado salad, escargots, salmon over pasta, and Chablis; dessert was lemon sorbet in vodka.

It was nearly ten, and lightly raining, as I walked back to my hotel, and I made one more stop on the way – to sit and read over a Heineken, under a canopy at a café on Boulevard St. Germain.