Saturday, 10/23/21

Started today with the goal of being able to eat something for breakfast. This is harder than it sounds when you don’t eat Wheat, eggs or corn. Luckily I had done some research and hopped a bus over to a gluten free bakery, called of all things, No Glu! They had a delicious Chorizo and cheese roll. Fortified with that and a cup of coffee, I was just leaving when a batch of GF croissants came out of the over, needless to say one came into my possession immediately. From there I headed over to a bicycle store to see what they had in folding bikes, Cyclable, on the Canal St. Martin. They had 2 possibilities for me a Tern D8 and a Tern BRB. Both would be decent to ride and easy to carry on the train. From there, a nice stroll along the Canal St. Martin brough me to 10 Belles, one of the better coffee places in Paris. (Coffee in Paris is at great odds with the terrific terraces, have yet to find a place with both excellent coffee and a good terrace.). After that a bus took me to the favorite Marche D’Aligre, one of the more vibrant open markets in Paris. A brief look around the market and it was time for some oysters and a glass, Le Baron Rouge did the trick and was doing a brisk business. From there some more buses and metros back to the hotel for a brief break and then to Oliver and Lina’s book signing at WH Smith. This is an extremely large English language bookstore not far from the Louvre. The place was nuts, but various fans did show up. Ended up strolling back toward rue de Montorgueil and picking up a few appetizers at an Italian restaurant, some grilled veggies and some risotto balls. I’ll put a plug in here: If you’ve been to Paris enough to be familiar with the Metro, it’s really worth learning how to use the buses, you can see a lot more while you’re traveling. Do yourself a favor and buy the weekly Navigo Decouverte pass and then it’s all you can eat. I buy this even when there are only a few days left in the week, because it is so convenient, and, at 5-6 rides/day I still save money even with only a few days use.