Le Marais

Today was a low-key relaxed day. My friend Jay is at his conference for the next couple of days, and I'm taking a more leisurely pace on my own. I poked around in the neighborhood I'm staying in. The day included a good bit of time spent sitting in the sunshine in one beautiful park or another, writing and people-watching.

This neighborhood, the Marais, is named for the marsh that used to be here. Now it's full of restaurants, museums, and beautiful old houses. Today I visited the Maison Victor Hugo museum, which is right on the Place des Vosges in an apartment that Hugo lived in for a while with his wife and children. (Speaking of well-known writers in the neighborhood, writer Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné—famous for the letters she wrote—was born near where I am staying.) I also visited the Musée Cognacq-Jay, a 16th-century building containing treasures of 18th-century art gathered by the couple that founded the La Samaritaine department store chain. It was a real treat, full of beautiful paintings, statues, and furniture. I was greatly taken with the fine work on the marquetry writing tables and desks.

Both museums were uncrowded, and I really appreciated the luxury of taking my time to appreciate the lovely and/or interesting things on display. I'd go nuts in a place decorated entirely in 18th-century French style, but I do enjoy seeing good examples of the style from time to time.

I ate lunch in the Square du Temple, one of the more beautiful squares I've seen in Paris (which is saying lot). The land here used to belong to the Knights Templar, who had a palace and garden on or near the site of the present square. I had quiche épinard et chèvre (quiche with spinach and goat cheese) from a nearby bakery while watching people talking, reading, eating lunch, wheeling babies in strollers, and playing ping pong. The backdrop to all this activity was quite impressive.

Evidently people are not meant to lounge about on the grass around the pond, although the sign looks almost like it forbids sit-ups.

Other grassy areas were open for people to eat picnic lunches on or for kids to run on. After lunch I walked around this part of the neighborhood. I went into a chocolate shop and bought an escargot noir (dark chocolate snail filled with something luscious) to eat as I roamed.

I came back to the apartment in the middle of the day and, luxury of luxuries, took a short nap. Fortified by my brief rest, I wandered around a bit closer to the river. I took a look at some remnants of the old wall built by Philip Augustus very early in the 13th century: two towers and the wall between them, now facing basketball courts. The wall appears to be incorporated into the current buildings. I finally found some old half-timbered houses that are among the oldest buildings in Paris; I'd read about them before coming here but hadn't been down the street where they are until today.

Note that the stories are different heights.

After exploring the food at the Monoprix a bit more thoroughly (I found that they sell a particular kind of cheese, evidently an Emmentaler, specifically for croque monsieur),  I spent an hour or so at twilight in the Place des Vosges near one of the fountains, among people sitting quietly reading or talking or eating their dinners. I love this place.