It's hard to resist a lovely afternoon. Gene was feeling better, the sun was bright, the sky still blue and we decided to walk from our place to the Left Bank and maybe see a movie later on. This vintage Citroën Deux Chevaux parked in front of a Thai restaurant on rue de l'Ave Maria begged to have its picture taken. A bit farther along we came across the back of the church of St. Paul shining in the sun.
Nearby, someone had left an entire bag of baguettes lying on the ground near a municipal trash bag (no cans here for fear of bombs). A small mystery: why weren't they in the trash bag? What could have happened to cause someone to discard them? And would anyone have the nerve to eat them? They were left across the street from a low-income assistance office. We didn't wait to learn the answers.
When we reached the river we took a closer look at an art installation that had been up on the quays since late September. Enormous eyes had been posted along the quayside walls and on some of the bridges. They're beginning to peel off and I think it makes it look even more intriguing.
Photographed and installed by a French photographer known as JR, it's part of a project called Women are Heroes (www.womenareheroes-paris.net) focusing on abused women around the world. The eyes are those of some of those women.
Across from the eyes was this little vignette. It looked like a photo shoot for a poster or an album cover. That's got to be a band, right? Is there any other excuse?
The riverside was popular that afternoon. There were sitters and strollers on the walkways down by the water.
And the old buildings along the Quai de Bourbon on Ile St-Louis were as beautiful as ever.
It's pricy real estate over there, but there must be some residents who are hanging on in unrenovated garrets or this would have long ago disappeared.
Yes, there's still an operating public bathhouse on the island.
And on that other island, a view of one of Notre Dame's towers from the Square Jean XXIII, a refuge from the crowds at the front of the Cathedral, where you too might be lucky enough to hear a sole musician playing the recorder in the sunlight.
We did see that movie, eventually. It was The Informant! We liked it.
