Low key day today, went over to Rue Mouffetard for Saturday market, but not much going on. Beautiful weather with high temps in the low 70s. Lunch at Le Compas with friend S and then back to apartment for some down time. Dinner on Ile St. Louis with J and A. This was really fun, we had some appetizers and then I have booked us tickets to climb the towers of Notre Dame, a quick 10 minute walk away. I tried to time it so we would be at the top around sunset and we got pretty close. 8:30pm tickets with sunset around 8:57pm. There are 424 steps to the top, and it’s broken up into 3 stages. The wood work on the restoration is amazing! When you finally get to the top, you have about 10 minutes before they shoo you out. Very cool! Then it was back to Ile St. Louis for a delicious dinner that went very late. Got back home just before midnight.

I headed over to the Musee d’Orsay this morning and my Carte Blanche (membership) got me through the door without any waiting. After a tour of the 5th floor impressionist galleries it was down to the special exhibit. This was a very extensive Renoir collection divided into paintings and separate exhibit of drawings. Very nicely done. After that off to one of those in the know spots… 8th floor of the Printemps department store has a number of restaurants with a fabulous terrace, the weather was perfect for sitting outside and I ordered a smash burger with the supplemental Comte and no bun, check out the picture! After some downtime it was off to meet D and S and L for dinner at a Basque place that treats us very well. Excellent dinner and the Mario Andretti was driving the bus home!

After coffee went to meet the company that manages the HOA for our building. That went fairly well, then off to lunch L’Escale with John. After, a walk through St. Sulpice and to the Luxembourg gardens. Very green but not a lot of flowers. Lots of people enjoying the sunshine. A quick walk up to the Pantheon and then back home to regroup. Apero at Le Baron rouge, followed by a kind of average dinner at Le Chardenoux.

After coffee, headed to the Cluny Museum. The Grand Palais+ pass worked as advertised to get in. Nice exhibition centered around unicorns and of course the standing collection is interesting. Then off to near Montmartre for lunch with L at Les Arlots. Excellent lunch. Then a nice walk down rue des Martyrs and through a number of the covered passage ways. Apero with P and M, from Le Peloton cafe, then off to dinner near the apartment. I normally like the Louis Philipe cafe and have eaten there many times. Tonight was a total fail. Possibly the worst burger I have ever, ever had. Grainy overcooked meat. Don’t thing that it was spoiled, just horrible texture and overcooked. I soldiered through part of it before giving up. At least the Frites were good. Bummer to waste a meal in Paris!

Managed to get a reservation for the Musee des Arts Forains today. This is a museum of vintage carousels and other circus type games and paraphernalia. The only way to see it is by doing the tour. It is part of the Bercy village. This area was where all the wine was stored and distributed well into the 1970s. The museum had some very cool stuff and most of it seemed functional. We rode various carousels and used the only bicycle powered carousel. Dinner at L’Avant Comptoir du Terre a favorite place to have a few bites without having to do a whole sit down meal.

A nice easy day today. Headed to Peleton for morning coffee then to storage unit to pick up my bag. Lunch in Oberkampf at MELT which does Texas style BBQ with a French twist. Then got on the afternoon boat tour from Arsenal, near the Bastille to Bassin de La Villete. A little bit long but very interesting. A long underground passage and then quite a few locks to get up to the basin. Something I have wanted to do for awhile but haven’t made it happen. Dinner with friends at Cyrano in Porte de Clichy. Surprisingly good meal in a very small cafe. Lovely weather today!

Long day of trains and buses, but all went smoothly. Out the door in San Sebastián at 8:30 this morning then bus to a Euskotren station. Euskotren to Hendaye, which is just across the border in France. Then an hour wait for train to Paris. 5hrs on the train to Paris, then a bus to the apartment. I must admit it felt great to walk in the door of the familiar La Lanterne apartment and feel at home! I have stayed in 12 different hotels in the last 19 days! It will be nice to wake up for the next 10 days and not have to pack every day! Nice warmish weather in Paris, I stocked in some groceries and bought a nice chunk of aged Comte!

Got up early and headed to Simona Coffee Club for the usual avocado toast breakfast that they do so well. Then off walking around the city. Tonight is the major semi finals soccer with San Sebastián playing Madrid. Although the game doesn’t start till 9:00pm, the general partying seems to have started around noon. Amazing number of people in town all wearing blue and white striped jerseys and scarfs. Walked down the promenade a bit, had some lunch, back for a nap, then out again for some pinxtos, a normal San Sebastián type day.

Today was a long day on the bus. Something like 4.5 hours from Oviedo to Bilbao then an hour break then another 1.5 hrs to San Sebastián. Spanish buses are quite good, exceedingly punctual and often the best way for certain routes that are not served well by train. For those planning a trip to Spain be sure to download the ALSA app. This is the main bus company in Spain. For longer trips, look for the “Supra” designation as these buses are much more luxurious with only 3 seats across and generally more direct. I had a Supra for the first part of my trip and it made it substantially more comfortable. Checked in to my Pension in San Sebastián, and then headed out for some Pinxtos as I hadn’t eaten all day. For whatever reason the place is crazy crowded, but fortunately you can still get into some places without too much effort. Not sure why it is this crazy, but possibly related to soccer game tomorrow.

View from balcony of my Pension.

It was about a 3.5 hour bus ride from Ribadeo to Oviedo, with lots of stops. Fortunately the bus only stopped when necessary so maybe less than half of the 55 stops! Many were in towns that I had walked through so that was fun. Arrived in Oviedo around 2:45pm and checked into lovely modern 4star hotel, 74 euros/night! Then was directed to a good restaurant for lunch. A rather raucous bunch of about 30 people came in right after me. Probably a company group lunch. 3:30pm is not an unusual lunch time in Spain. Explored the town a little then out for an Apero by the Cathedral before calling it a night. Lovely Canadian ladies joined me at the table, and they were starting on the Primitivo tomorrow. One was an acupunturist who lives in Mexico now. Anyway, did some math and it turned out that from Wednesday to Wednesday I walked a total of 207,354 steps!