We enjoyed a Sunday morning trip to our neighborhood outdoor market on Avenue Daumensil where Rick purchased a roasted chicken for breakfast, along with eggs, ham and cheese. He really wanted the chicken for dinner but I reminded him that it would be difficult to assume they would still be selling roasted meats at the dinner hour. We have a kitchen in our apartment but no oven. Breakfast it is!

After getting off to a very late start (noon) we took the metro to Gare D’ Austerlitz. The intent was to walk along the Seine as I had done before Rick arrived. I wanted him to see how beautiful and interesting the pathway was.

The other purpose in walking along the river was to find as many vendors as possible to see if there was anything we “needed”. Once we spotted the first vendors open, we climbed the stairs to street level to begin our browsing.

Art was first and foremost as we were looking for one piece that would compliment something I bought in Barcelona last year. That piece of art fit perfectly in our dining room but finding something similarly sized proved to be a challenge.

We continued walking along the Seine on the left bank. The vendors were fewer in number and we noticed a lot of activity going on below us along the Seine. There were places to eat varying in range from a food counter to fancy boats decked out with plenty of seating. We will keep the boats in mind for a nicer dinner.

We stopped at a spot with multiple picnic tables and pizza for sale. We were not hungry but a stop for our bodies was needed. Espresso is always good!

We came across the Passerelle Leopold Sedar Senghor Footbridge, which must have been the location for a group workout. Men and women dressed for a boot camp-type workout were running, and doing body weight exercises all over the bridge. If only I had my workout clothes and shoes! We did purposely cross the river just to see the bridge up close. It had a great design that almost forced you to do something active… run, jump or whatever comes to mind!

The next bridge we came to was the Pont de Alexander – the golden bridge. It’s so pretty. all golden and frilly.

As we stood on the bridge you couldn’t help but notice the golden dome on the building just beyond the river. We decided to see what it was and it turned out to be the Musee Armee, the Napoleon museum we will see tomorrow. Now we know where it is.

As we looped backwards a bit towards Font Saint Michel which would be the end of our trip, we came across the Le bon Marche and its accompanying grocery store. Another amazing fancy offering. One might get the impression the French love their food, and you would be correct!

We stopped for dinner before heading home and I had linguine with creamy mushroom sauce. Delicious! Rick always orders some type of meat and today he went with steak tartare – seared… it was almost raw which surprised him. He won’t be ordering that again anytime soon!

By the time we got home it was after 7. That was a full day of exploration and walking. We didn’t bring anything home but we definitely know what’s not out there.

Since art was on our minds I researched where to find the artists in Paris like I’ve seen everywhere else. We missed a couple markets that suggested there would be artists selling items, but we apparently were out of luck! Art will perhaps be found in Portland.

#47daysineurope #paris