Day 39 ~ La Rive Droit

In great news, Daniel and I have both had negative COVID tests. We are very close to being cleared for masklessness, which is exciting, and we are just eager to put all COVID stuff behind us. So close.

Today we wandered up the Left Bank to hit up some stuff that we’d been denied yesterday. We found the Notre Dame apple at A. Lacroix, which was well worth going back for – tart, full of fresh fruit, and gorgeous to look at. We got a photo of yesterday’s fig confit, too. Feast with your eyes.

Then we returned to Shakespeare and Company, and successfully shopped in the bookstore. We found the bookstore fun to wind through, with a beautifully curated collection. It’s wonderful that places like this still exist, and they certainly are doing well. Stef is part of the problem, as a dedicated e-reader reader these days. But it was neat to go there, even if we left empty-handed.

We kind of knocked around a little bit, not 100% sure what the plan should be. We crossed the Pont de les Artes and admired the park at the end of the Pont Neuf.

We were beyond excited to check out this library, and were crushed to be shut out.

We grabbed some sandwiches and hopped on the Vendettes du Pont Neuf tourist boats, and this was a wonderful experience. We found the boat not too crowded, they allowed us to eat our sandwiches, and they did a good job of pointing out the sights. Some were impossible to miss:

Hopping off the boat, we took a moment at the park at the tip of the Ile de la Cite, with its willow trees and green grass.

We walked across the Pont de les Arts for a second time, then marched around the grounds of the Louvre (we did not and do not have plans to go to the Louvre). The Louvre occupies what used to be the palace – it is massive, and it’s interesting to think about the aristocrats and bureaucrats who used to call it their workplace. It’s also so large that even picturing all of the art in there, floor after floor, for miles and miles (kilometers and kilometers, even) is totally dizzying.

We went along the Palais Royale and its tree-lined park.

We strolled the large and famous Rue de Rivoli, a prominent shopping district, and made our way to another library…that was closed. Mondays in Europe, most public spaces just aren’t open.

We went searching for some passages couverts – shopping districts covered by glass roofs, like the earliest malls you can imagine. We only saw a couple, but they were wonderful. This Gallerie Vivienne was absolutely captivating.

Then we headed back to the hotel to regroup before dinner. We were excited about dinner – we had picked out the place because it was two blocks from our AirBnB apartment, and for zero other reason. Then we learned it was one of the best restaurants in town. We had coq au vin (delicious) and a half a rotisserie chicken with garlic and mashed potatoes (exceptional). Stef’s Mom will also love hearing we had the haricots verts. They tasted just like green beans.

And that was our day! Paris continues to rock our socks, and we are excited for four more days of this wonderful vacation.