Wednesday September 26th, 2018

Ended up having a most excellent tapas type dinner at L’Avant Comptoir du Mer last night. All locals around me who were friendly. Small dishes, Oysters, squid, clams etc. great fun and a cool place, go early because it gets crowded.

Nice to wake up and find it cool outside. 47 degrees overnight. Found an excellent coffee shop just down the street, Malongo, that actually knew the difference between an Allonge (horrible) and an Americano. From there it was off to Notre Dame for the obligatory selfie, then walked towards the Marais. I walked through the holocaust memorial, 200,000 French Jews were killed during the holocaust. I’ve been doing some reading about that time period, and it sounds as though many people have still not come to grips with the various types of collaboration and resistance offered by their neighbors. From there, a short walk to the Picasso museum. The nice thing about this time of year is that there are no lines…. In I went, a nice follow up to what I saw in Arles and Nice. After a brisk tour of the Picasso museum it was deeper into the Marais with a stop for a haircut. This one of those things that is entirely too aggravating in France to be believed. I tried a few days ago in Marseille, was told a 10 minute wait. The lady cutting hair couldn’t seem to cut and talk at the same time and talking was clearly her priority. After about 20 minutes and seeming no closer, I stormed out suggesting less talking and more cutting. Today they told me 10 minutes again, and dicked around for awhile but eventually got the job done. It only takes about 5 minutes to actually cut my hair, so screwing around half an hour to get it done is super annoying. After solving that, the Marche Des Enfants Rouge had a good Moroccan Tagine for lunch. Substitute Veggies for the Couscous and it becomes GF. From there it was off the outer neighborhood of St. Denis to see the Basilica there. This is where every French king and member of royalty was buried for years. St. Denis has a bad reputation as a neighborhood, but the area around the basilica seemed ok. After that, I hoped off the metro near the Champs Eylsee and walked the famous Ave. Montaigne. It is fashion week in Paris, so did spot a few overly stylish people, but otherwise the street is fairly understated. The shops all have names of things that no one can afford, Chanel, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Versace, and a few dozen others.

That’s the menu at L’Avant Comptoir hanging from the ceiling.The Picasso museum building.