And is getting to try some out.

What's more they're really rather good. We (Mr Starke & me) are having a couple of days in Paris. Thankfully it's not quite as cold as the last time we were here, February 2012, when the temperature was never above freezing. Luckily the apartment we stayed in had good heating but the dry cold took its toll on my hair. Remember those science lessons with the Van der Graaf generator? We had windows overlooking the Canal St Martin and the lock keeper had to defrost the locks to let the boats through.

This time we're a little farther west staying at the Residence Nell in the 9th. It's very handy for shops, bars and restaurants and walkable to most main sites. Actually I'm an unreliable witness to walkability as I'll walk vast distances when sightseeing, particularly if I'm not familiar with the public transport system. In my defence I'll say that I know how to use the metro and buses here.

 

Last night we ate at Autour d'un Verre which was very close,crowded or animé as they say here and best of all cheap. Food was good too. We arrived after 10pm and the place was still buzzing when we left. I wasn't brave enough to try the marrow bone starter but it seemed popular. We're catering for ourselves here so we walked back via the local Grocer's to pick up fruit and yoghurt for breakfast. This morning was a bit too rushed to pop out to the Baker's opposite for croissants but tomorrow should be more relaxed.

 

 

Mr Starke headed off to work and I was left with the difficult task of amusing myself, so..a little hobbit like second breakfast, a wander around Moustache, a great pet supplies shop, for a little something for dogstarke, a visit to BHV for all those essentials we'd managed to leave behind and then off to the Musee d'Orsay to see the Impressionisme et La Mode exhibition. It was brilliant looking at the relationship between the art and the fashions of the time. I was struck by the curator's introduction on the audio guide reminding up us that an exhibition should above all be enjoyed, so enjoy it I did. Like all exhibitions of clothes it also left me feeling ENORMOUS, the clothes were tiny, even corseted I couldn't ever have achieved a waist like these. The shoes were tiny too, unlike any we see today.

Afterwards I contributed to my enormity by stopping for lunch at the museum restaurant, it's very pretty but was soooo much more expensive than last night's dinner and not as good.

 

After lunch I took a stroll back across the river, and through the Tuileries. I find them very bleak.

Not like gardens at all. Now I'm back "home" drinking tea and writing this but soon I have to change for dinner, only the second outfit of the day not the four worn by the ladies featured in the exhibition. Tomorrow a friend has suggested a trip to the Louve. Yikes!

 

 

 

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