Today it was not raining! Managed to sneak in a croissant from NoGlu and a coffee at Early Bird before taking the metro to Montparnasse. Moment of worry when the train stalled out in the tunnel, but the driver fixed it in short order. Quite a hike to Hall 2 at Montparnasse from where the metro drops you. Anyway, a good train trip, sitting across from me were 2 couples, American, who turned out to be white hat Hacker Cyber security guys (SEVN-X is the company). They were extremely interesting company, and then the lady across from me ran a foundation in Africa treating gum disease. All in all the 3-4 hrs. On the train flew by, and I made my 11 minute connection in Agen with a few minutes to spare. I’m in a classic old school hotel, Le Pont Napoleon, that has clearly been lovingly restored by the owner who is also working the desk. He most definitely has the hospitality gene. Took a quick walk up into town, to buy a sausage so that I have some kind of food during the day tomorrow. As usual in France, nothing is serving food mid afternoon. Pleasantly warm here, some kind of surfing group is having a get together, no surf anywhere near. Tomorrow’s walk scheduled at 20.5km/12.5miles. I’m trying to shift as many heavy things out of my pack and into my suitcase as I can!

Not a very good nights sleep as loud drunk people were making noise in the park outside the hotel. Combine that with Jetlag and not a great night. Dinner with Linda and David, last night, partners in the fractional was great, Vins des Pyrenees, followed by the speakeasy upstairs with some live jazz. I hit the wall around 9:30pm but they stayed on. So started the day with a trip to NoGlu and then went into the Marche d’Aligre. Excellent coffee place in the covered market called Early Bird, the owner had done some pilgrimage walking and gave me a hat. Took that back to the Hotel and got a call from Oliver Gee who had just arrived at the coffee place, so turned around and went back to visit with him. His podcast, “The Earful Tower,” is fantastic and if you have any interest in Paris well worth looking through. Morning weather was light rain mixed with hard rain, but luckily it cleared up around lunch time. Following this it was lots of Metros and buses as I went to see Peter Turnley’s photos at Hotel de Ville, then to see the wrap at the Opera Garnier, and then off to Breizh Odeon for a lunch crepe. Back to the hotel before meeting high school class mate Mariko Gordon and her son for an Apero at Le Compas followed by an absolutely wonderful dinner at Le Mazenay. This may have been the best meal I have ever had in France. French food but with a slight Vietnamese touch and friendly waitress and an excellent bottle of Vacqueras. Highly recommend this place. Fairly early to bed as train trip down to Moissac in the morning.

Made it back to Paris after a trouble free 10 hr. Flight. Staying near the Marche D’Aligre as the apartment is occupied. Mid afternoon arrival meant not much time, but made it to a meet up with Vero and group in the 7th and then dinner with Linda and David, fellow fractional owners at Les Vins Des Pyrenees restaurant. Cool speakeasy upstairs. Pretty zonked now.

Got an early start this morning with the idea of being at the Orangerie right when they opened at 9:00am so I could renew my membership. Managed to get that done and do a quick tour of the museum before crossing the river and zipping into the Musée D’Orsay for a quick look at the impressionist stuff. If you are a member you get to enter at 9:00am, half an hour before the general public. After that a quick stop at NoGlu for a GF croissant and then back to the Apt. for some packing and cleaning. Lunch at Le Sancerre a favorite and then some strolling back to the apartment for more organizing for tomorrow’s early departure. Hopefully the general strike won’t impact my travel, the airport is not participating.

Headed back to the Rodin museum to pick up my membership card, which was unable to be printed on Sunday. Ended up taking awhile because the doctors were having their strike, so the bus diverted. Anyway, card received, then walked over to the Orsay, but huge crowds precluded a visit, even the members entrance was pretty jammed. From there a visit to Trocadero for an Eiffel Tower shot and then a bite of lunch and a walk down Rue Montaigne, the rodeo drive of Paris, more stuff you don’t need. From there a visit to the Musée de la Chasse et nature, a funky museum in the Marais with stuffed animals and old flintlocks. After that a pastis at Deux Magots, temperatures had gotten up to almost 60 degrees, so pleasant to be out on the terrace.

Sometimes you just really want a croissant, so it was off to NoGlu this morning for a tiny GF croissant. Still, worth the trip. After that a stroll back through the Marais and met John R. For lunch at the Thai place next door. Thai food in France does not have quite the oomph or spice that it does in Honolulu or Seattle. After lunch walked over to the Jardin des Plantes a nice stroll along the Seine and then the gardens have well curated beds organized by different types of plants. Also a large conservatory that houses orchids. From there, hopped the metro over to Opera for a walk through Pl. Vendome, the upscale area full of all the brands you don’t need to own and probably can’t afford anyway. Found a nice duck on Pl St. Catherine right near the apartment.

Started today with the usual run to Bastille market. Unfortunately , the Breton crepe guy wasn’t there, all was not lost though and another crepe place did the job. After that a quick google of coffee shops turned up an excellent roaster and shop called Back in Black nearby. This place has so far the best coffee I’ve had in Paris and runs a roasters and full restaurant. They seem to be affiliated with the KB in Montmartre, also a good shop. After that, off to the Rodin museum for a walk in their gardens followed by heading over to Rue Cler, or Rick Steves St. Then back home to regroup and a visit to Deux Magots for an apero.

Between 1851 and 1867 a rail line was built around the city of Paris. This was used into the 1980s. (Petite Ceinture translates as Little belt) Now it has had sections repurposed for use by the RER, but other sections have been turned into walking trails, largely with the rails still present. I have walked different sections of this at various times, and unfortunately as of now they are not connected. Today I went to Porte de Charenton to pick up the section in the 12th arrondisment. This was a section of about 1.6km that is elevated. A pleasant if slightly muddy walk through a very quiet quarter. Eventually came out and took the metro back to march d’Aligre for a quick stroll through the market before a few oysters at the Baron Rouge. Then a Poulet Fermier, rotisserie chicken and mash for lunch at the Chat Bossu on the way back to the apt. Had a low key Thai curry for dinner but ended up meeting a very interesting Brazilian Director at the end of the evening at the classic Les Philosophes cafe, near the apt. He directs for Netflix and Amazon and has a 7 episode series on Netflix called ‘Time Hustler.” Today was another national strike day, but this one didn’t seem to have a lot of momentum, the buses and Metro were working normally and my check of flight departures showed the airport was also functioning normally, good because I leave on Thursday, and there is the same sort of thing scheduled.

I booked a cheese class this morning with Parole des Fromagers, and it ended up being quite interesting. As with most things in France there are lots of rules around what a cheese can be called based on how it’s made and where it’s made. We got a little into the pairing ideas with wine, interesting because they discriminate between the type of pairing, broadly, Lovers, friends, enemies, and some kind of fusion that creates a better than the whole situation. After the Cheese class headed over to the Canal St. Martin an up and coming neighborhood and found a nice place for lunch, Au Comptoir. Then after lunch a long walk down the canal all the way to the Bastille, followed by a visit to the Grand Epicerie, always dangerous when you are in the mood to buy cheese. Dinner with Christian and Regis, very entertaining! Another general nationwide strike is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, so we’ll see how that goes. This time it appears to be much more limited, with airport traffic etc. not to be affected. The special website C’est la Greve tracks these things.

I did the make it out to Provins today. First, Metro to Gare de l’Est, then take P translien to Provins, covered by Navigo Decouverte weekly pass. This was about an hour and 20 minute ride. On arrival, a walk from the station into town, which has very large churches, towers and other artifacts, lots of the old style houses. February is apparently not really the time to visit this place as all of the building were closed, and most of the restaurants. After a good solid walk, including a pretty solid hill in the center of town, I found a locals type restaurant and settled in for a good lunch before catching the train back. If you do want to visit, wait till warmer months and know that trains in both directions run once per hour at :46 minutes past. Having walked across a lot of France, this village reminded me of many I’d walked through in that past, and I didn’t find it hugely noteworthy. Beautiful sunny day again with temperatures starting well below 30 degrees this morning.