Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2007/12/11-12 Boulevard des Italiens, Opera, Tuileries, St. Honore, Paris

Since I normally work at home, a short morning walk to the office in Paris is a special occasion. Antonio led the way with a little short cut through a passage couvert north from Rue de Richelieu onto Boulevard des Italiens westbound.

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The boulevard had moderate traffic before 9 a.m. A few cafes were open for breakfast.

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The Place de l’Opera is a major traffic circle with a key metro station underneath.

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Crossing the street at Place de l’Opera, the column at Place Vendome is visible.

20071211_Place_Vendome.jpg

At lunchtime, we went for a stroll and saw the Jardins des Tuileries. The trees at the boundary run parallel to the street, looking east.

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Looking south, the gardens are manicured into order. There’s no wilderness in this urban park.

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To the southwest, the fountain was running, even though the weather was chilly.

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Looking west is a classic view of the Eiffel Tower and a ferris wheel. The gardeners must have focused their efforts on a small patch of green.
20071211_Jardin_des_Tuileries_grass.jpg

With only three days in Paris, Mick and Antonio took advantage of the opportunity to pose for a great tourist shot.

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The next day, we had time for a good break at lunch, and headed to Place du Marche St. Honore, where there is a cluster of restaurants.

20071212_Place_Marche_St_Honore.jpg

Fresh fish and fruit were available, but we were looking for a nice place to dine.

20071212_Marche_St_Honore_fish.jpg

Since the booths for gifts and clothes were just being set up, it seems that those shoppers must arrive later in the day.

20071212_Marche_St_Honore_gifts.jpg

We had a good choice of restaurants, so we walked by a few before Fanny recognized one she had been to in the summer.

20071212_Marche_St_Honore_resto.jpg

At the Cafe Zinc, we enjoyed a traditional French lunch at leisure. My metabolism doesn’t handle alcohol well, but the others with European constitutions enjoyed the wines.

20071212_St_Honore_Cafe_Zinc.jpg

Although it may seem as though we had a lot of leisure time on this trip, these were a few moments that we were able to squeeze into a tight schedule. On the evening between these two days, we didn’t leave the office until 9 p.m. Fortunately, the French don’t start their work days very early, but our meetings followed an American pace.

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