FALL, FAMILY AND FRIENDS - MORE OF NIKKI'S VISIT!!!!

I know it's hard to believe but Nikki was only here Monday through Sunday!  We did a lot, but, while our days were very full and busy (mostly) from 10:00-5 or 6:00, we had most of our evenings to be quietly at home watching movies and relaxing (for the next day!!!).  That helped.

So...after the day at Giverny, we chose to have a quiet morning on Thursday.  Nikki wanted to visit the Musee Marmottan Monet museum,  and we hadn't visited it before so off we went.  Again, the day was cloudy and cool but at least not raining.  It's tough to walk very fast under an umbrella..especially sharing!!!

David and I are not art enthusiasts, but we have decided we like he Impressionists.  One of our favorites is Gustave Caillebotte.  We went to the Kimball Museum in Fort Worth to see an exhibit of his.  While at the Musee Marmottan Monet, I picked up one of his prints in the gift shop.  It will have a place of honor when we move back!

I doubt ours will be framed like this, although I do like it....but then, mine is just a copy😢!!

As often happened, we were all a little hungry after the Musee but it was too early for lunch so we had to have a snack!!!😉. One of the best snacks in Paris is......a crepe from a street vendor.  It was Nikki's first (at least on this visit).  I'm not sure what kind she had, I think she chose a berry filling.  Me?  Nutella and banana!!!!  I figure the banana is healthy!!!!!!!  I actually started carrying a bag of mixed nuts in my bag to munch on as we went about our days.  It helped a lot.

Nikki had also found another cute shop, La Super Marquette, a little shop where you can find anything French.  It really is a tiny little shop but is so cute, and the owner is delightful.  Nikki and I both bought large woven market bags--I'd been wanting one and she said hers will be the perfect yarn holder!!  They were only 15 Euros (a steal) and can easily fold up for packing.  We were doing the happy dance!!

The basket hanging on the left is the one we bought!

Coming out we were greeted by a cold rain (but we were prepared!!) and, because I need a winter coat, we all (even David-it may have even been his idea-I know, crazy, huh???!!) decided to hit the three stores near to find a bargain.  Now I'm not sure David thought it would take three stores...but it needed to "call my name" and I didn't want to spend a fortune.  After all, who needs a big coat in Dallas?????  Am I right???

After looking (and trying on) at H&M and Zara and with only one option left nearby, Mango, I hit the jackpot thanks to Nikki!!!  I was looking for black wool, midi, classic style.  What I got is camel wool, knee length, fairly classic and simple.  And it called my name!!!  Done!!  We were all happy as we were all ready to go home.

Coat in hand, bus ticket in other hand, we left for home where we had a quiet evening watching movies and eating homemade Croque Monsieurs!

The week was winding down, and one of the things we were all looking forward to was a walking tour of "Hemingway's Paris" with Chris from Paris-Walks.  We met Peter Caine (owner of Paris-Walks) at Bloom where he spoke.  Paris-Walks has an array of walks where you just show up at the designated location, pay 15 Euros and go.  No reservation.  There are also some tours that do require a reservation...ours didn't.  Chris was wonderful and talked not only about Ernest Hemingway and his life in Paris but also about the times in which Hemingway lived.  It was really enjoyable and informative.  Not too "booky", if you know what I mean!!!

While some thought Hemingway lived above this little cafe, he actually had a small loft here where he wrote.  He lived around the corner...he could come here to have the peace and quiet he wanted to write.

This is where he actually lived in one of the shaded windows to the right of the pipe.  It really is amazing to think of such a great writer being here, in this place, writing what has become great literature.  He lived here with his first wife, Hadley, and though he was married many times after her, Chris said it is believed he never stopped loving her....that's my kind of story!!!!

Part of the tour included visiting this church, St. Etienne du Mont, where St.Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, is entombed.  She was a peasant girl who, at 15, wanted to live only for God and became a nun.  Shortly before the attack of the Huns under Attila in 451, Genevieve and the archdeacon persuaded the panic-stricken people of Paris not to flee but to pray.  It is believed this intercession of Genevieve's prayers caused Attila's army to go to Orleans instead.  It just makes me think how much God can do with a willing, obedient heart and prayers of believers.

Being the movie freak I am, I loved this--the steps Owen Wilson sat on waiting for the car to take him back in time in the movie "Midnight in Paris".  When you stand there, it looks exactly like the movie scene.  Pretty cool!!

The inside of the church is very different from most of the other churches we've been in.  Most are very dark while this one is very light with the scalloped-looking walls and light colors.  It is a beautiful worship center.

Our walking tour lasted about two and a half hours as we explored the charming Mouffetard district with its old streets, secret courtyards and lots of little shops and markets.  The weather was cool but didn't rain.

At the tour's end, after all our walking, we needed a snack!  We walked around and found this little Boulanger patissier where we got these delicious treats.  Mine, of course, is the chocolate pain and Nikki chose a raisin pastry.  Yummy!!!!

Then it was time for some fun and games!!  We came upon this hopscotch board with "land" on one end and "sky" on the other.  Nikki had to give it a try!!  You can't be serious and studious all the time.  I thought of the little boys and what fun this could have been with them around.  We would all have been playing!!!  Would they even know what hopscotch was????!!!!!

After snacking and playing, we walked to the Pantheon.  It was intended to be a church dedicated to St.Genevieve and house her relics.  However, during the Revolution, when the church was shutdown, it was taken from the church and began functioning as a secular mausoleum for distinguished French citizens.  It's a phenomenal place with the tombs of many great French people.

Voltaire

In the center of first floor  you can find the Foucault pendulum, a 67-metre (220 foot) pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the earth.  It's pretty interesting to watch.

Nikki and I thought it was pretty amazing and kept checking in on it to see if the time it was showing was the same as our watches!  It was!  Amazing.

By this time, even after our snack, we were ready for lunch.  We all opted to go to Breakfast in America for a good ol' American hamburger (actually, I think David had chili!).  We love the American breakfasts there, but they also have a great lunch menu, and I absolutely love their B.I.A. Burger.

By the time we finished lunch, it was getting late so we decided to head toward home.  On the way, we stopped in two churches, St. Severin (where David and I have visited before) and St. Nicolas du Chardonnet (this was new to us).  St. Nicolas's was different in that it was decorated in bright blue and white instead of the more muted whites and creams.  It was a pretty church.

Saturday was Nikki's last day here and it was spent quietly.  We all went to the market in the morning and then had lunch with Jim and Odette Lockwood-Stewart, our friends from church.  After lunch the three of us walked down rue Cler and over to the Eiffel Tower (Nikki had seen it years ago but not this trip-you can't come to Paris and not see the twinkling tower!!).  One selfie and we were home eating pizza and watching a movie.  A perfect end of a perfect trip with our Nikki Anne!!!