Tuesday, February 1, 2011--Shopping

We got a late start and decided to do some souvenir shopping.  Annie and Joel should read NO FURTHER--fair warning!

Mary had been unsuccessful finding anything for Annie to thank her for taking care of the dogs.  As we strolled through the Marais, we happened on a small jewelry shop and Mary found a beautiful pair of jade and silver earrings--problem solved.

Off then to Gerard Mulot, a famous boulangerie off the Places des Vosges, where Mary bought a box of custom-selected macarones for Annie and Joyel.  She had a croissant (this place has won the best croissant competitions in recent years).

best croissants & macarones

We walked through the Places des Vosges (my favorite park--Annie, Maggie, have you ever been to the Places des Vosges?) and then over to the Isle St. Louis and then to Notre Dame, where we went inside for the first time during this visit.

Then we marched over to the Left Bank to Shakespeare and Company (shades of Sunny Jim Joyce) for a poster for Joel and then to our favorite souvenir shop for scarves and a killer apron for Joyel.  We next headed back to our favorite boulangerie (but not before finding an equally killer chef's hat also for Joyel--tres chick monsieur) and home for lunch.

all's fine

oops, close-up not so good--look how dubious Mary seems

modeling Joel's gifts

A couple hours later, we went out to the ATM, where I discovered my debit card had expired yesterday!!!!!  After a quick stop in the Monoprix (Maggie--my favorite store!), we were back in the apartment where I called the bank.  Thankfully because of our landlord's free international calling, we were able to transfer funds to Mary's account.

neighborhood boulangerie

G20, our quickie mart

favorite wine shop

St. Paul Metro stop

After a wonderful dinner at Sopranos, we decided to visit Notre Dame at night.  It was freezing (really, well below 32), but here's some of what we saw.  There was almost no one out there with us.