The edges of town

The weather gods are playful this week, luring us out into gorgeous mornings that change quickly into gray and rainy skies and back again as quickly.

If you're lucky as we were yesterday you take the bus to the far eastern edge of the city to visit the Chateau de Vincennes and decide to have lunch just before the daily deluge. Then you enjoy the beautiful cloud formations you see from the windows of the donjon, an erstwhile palace that became a prison that housed, among others, the Marquis de Sade and the priest who was confessor to Napoleon Bonaparte.

The marquis' cell is pretty bare, while the priest's has been painted with brightly colored images of plaques and drapery. Maybe de Sade's images wouldn't have been as pretty.


There are also carved autographs left by prisoners over more than 200 years.


After a quick drink in Place St-Sulpice with Polly to hear about why she's leaving Paris for the States after 3 years of living her dream, we took another bus to dinner all the way down south at La Régalade, crowded, bright, noisy and delicious. Three yummy and enormous courses for 32 euros remains a true bargain in these days.