Day out in Paris

We drove into Paris and S parked the car in the St Germain area. Our first stop was to see the Jardin du Luxembourg. This is a garden of about 22.5 hectares and is the garden of the Luxembourg Palace which houses the Senate of the French Government. It is a lovely peaceful green space amid the bustle of the busy city. We entered in the south west corner and looked across to colourful flowerbeds and sculptures. There are over a hundred sculptures in the park, including a series of twenty or more French queens and famous French women. Just to our left we found the Apiary School with its wonderful beehives, all behind a fence for everyone's safety. Huge trees shaded us from the sun which was already beating down, and we could see many Parisiennes taking advantage of the many seats scattered under the trees, reading their newspapers. We walked along curving paths, and came upon the area where the Orchard School has its orchard of espaliered fruit trees protected from the birds - and maybe the public - by fine netting. The pears and apples were ripening in their dozens on the specially trained branches.
Now we took a turn to the centre of the garden, passing the little creperie kiosk and seeing some of the statues of the French queens as we walked down to the pond. Lots of people were sitting in the sun, enjoying the beautiful weather. We walked diagonally across this area and down towards the Palace, making our way to the Medici Fountain - a popular tourist feature and glimpsing the Pantheon on the way.
We left the garden and S lead us on an interesting route through the small streets of the St Germain area. Here we passed some lovely, interesting boutiques as well as churches and old inns. Down one narrow street we came across the oldest cafe in Paris Le Procope, dating from 1686. It leans a little into the street, but otherwise is still looking in excellent shape. It claims Voltaire, Danton, Robespierre, Marat, Molière, Diderot and Benjamin Franklin among its illustrious patrons. The name comes from its founder, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli.
Our aim was to arrive at a very special place for lunch, and suddenly we saw the first sign directing us down another side street. We followed this and some way along there was our destination on the corner.
We planned to visit the famous tea emporium of Mariage Freres where the most exotic tea is sold. D and S rave about it and we have been treated to the Bolero tea, which is delicious. Rows of different teas in tins greet you as you enter. These you can sniff so as to choose your favourite. There are green, grey, blue, red and black teas with various additional flavours - anything from a whole range of herbs, spices, fruits and flowers. But before we got too carried away, we were due upstairs for a little lunch accompanied by tea, of course. Everything was beautifully served at our table by an open window and we all chose different teas - Bannockburn for the Scotsman, Sweet Shanghai for me, Festin D'Or for S and Gold Himalaya for D. After various savoury plates, we shared scones and muffins, then there was a choice from the dessert chariot, which I just couldn't manage - but no worries, take a cake home in a bag, instead! We then went downstairs and chose some tea to take home.

S and I had an appointment with the dressmaker, so headed off leaving the men to sort out the business of paying. We would be in touch by mobile to meet up again a couple of hours later. When we did, they were very chuffed to have found another cake shop from D's book, Laduree. So we had to go and look at it, and then had to buy some of their signature macaroons to take back to Margencey. Time was getting on, so we now took the Metro to see the Louvre and its glass pyramid. A had never seen it before, so he was very interested. No time to queue to go in, so we walked around it, then found a street cafe for some drinks - water and coffee. Then we walked down to the Seine and along the embankment, looking over to spot the people enjoying the Paris Plage on the Voie Georges Pompidou. We crossed the river on to Ile de la Cite, and walked through the streets to have a look at Notre Dame Cathedral. Again, the queue to go inside was enormous, so after a couple of photos, we found our way to the Metro and took a train back to where the car was parked. S drove us back to Margencey with our parcels.
Here we met the rest of the family before we went out to dinner at Hotel Du Lac, Enghien Les Bains. We sat on the terrace and dined on delicious food and wine in great company, as the sun set.

Info about Mariage Freres