This morning began for me the same as every morning in France so far, with a pain chocolate and double espresso. Over this breakfast at La Pallette we planned our day…return to Deyrolle to get some souvenirs…walk (it was 29 degrees) to and tour the Rodin Museum…and head to Muffetard Street and a restaurant called Papillion. Deyrolle was closed when we arrived between 12 and 2 so we continued on to Rodin.
The setting for this museum is a lovely old mansion and grounds. Many of Rodin’s large sculptures like these are in the garden. Allan is thinking with le penseur, and the Gates of Hell and Three Shades are some of our other favorite sculptures. Inside we saw some of the creative process that Rodin went through to create these bronze behemoths and of course we had some favorites there too.
Next stop on our plan was Muffetard Street and Papillion Restaurant–too far to walk so we ubered. Papillion, a favorite of Anthony Bourdain, has been shuttered, but, undeterred, we found Le cafe Muffetard and shared wine and an excellent lunch (or was it dinner?). It was dark when we left the cafe so we moved on to a bar called Little Bastards for a drink. Muffetard Street is a lively, interesting part of Paris, with plenty of reasonably priced shops, cafes, restaurants, bars and the like. We bought some more Comte and Brillat cheeses.
The next part of our plan was to begin walking toward the Hemingway Bar in the Ritz Hotel on Place Vendome, stopping for a drink when we needed to get warm. Google told us it was a 41 minute walk and we only stopped three times for warming and quenching our thirsts before reaching the Ritz. Although cold, it was a beautiful night for a walk. Paris was foggy so the light was soft and we enjoyed both the different and the familiar sights. The Hemingway Bar had at least an hour wait so we ubered to our apartment and hiked 77 steps up for our final drink of the evening and fruit and cheese. We said good night and Charlie and Patti hiked 77 steps down to the street, around the corner and 3 more flights up to their apartment. It was a great day wandering the streets of Paris with friends…Bon Nuit.
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