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Weekend Wanderings Part 1

He was let out!!!
While G works hard during the week and I get to wander and explore solo, the weekends are ours to spend together and see what mischief we can get up to.

Saturday we had decided to explore our own neighborhood, we're minutes away from place des Vosges.

As handy as the phone is, and as extent as my notes are on places to visit, see and do I did give in and purchased a Lonely Planet book about Paris.  Mostly for the map (as my phone wasn't on the data plan to begin with), but it is also handy as it gives some history of the places and recommended walks/tours. We took advantage of being just minutes from the place des Vosges, and walked the Medieval Meanderings Tour (backwards).  

Hôtel de Sully
We started with the Hôtel de Sully, walked through the "secret" door into the place des Vosges, and gradually made our way to the Musée Carnavalet (which is housed in the Hôtel Carnavalet and Hôtel Le Peletier).  The place des Vosges was originally named the Royale, and is the oldest square in Paris.  It was commissioned by King Henry IV in the early 17th Century.  Following the King, the Aristocrats built "Hôtels" so they too could stay in the area.  (Hôtels = fancy houses for the rich ;0)!  The place des Vosges received its name because the Vosges (administrative) department was the first the to pay their taxes, see good things can come to those that pay ;)

place des Vosges
It was COLD (so cold, that later in the day we had a mini snow flurry), so we didn't stand around and appreciate the place des Vosges in its entirety.  I would imagine as Spring fully breaks through, that it will be quite the beautiful place to enjoy a book and cáfe on the terraces.  








We continued our walk, and found ourselves at the entrance for the Musée Carnavalet, a museum that houses 600,000 pieces of art in the permanent collection and is free to the public (as are other City Museums).  There were some beautiful pieces, and we not only enjoyed the warmth but also the display of art.  Some of my favorites were the few Impressionist pieces, as well as the room on the Bastille.  A period of French history I would like to read more about, and made all the more interesting as again we are just a few minutes walk from the Bastille Monument.
 





Both G and I agreed we would like to return to the museum and pay for the audio guide, it's a good thing we're close!!

Stopping for a relatively inexpensive yet tasty lunch we enjoyed galettes with hard cider at Crepes Suzette.  We continued our wanderings, checking out some very cool streets in the Le Marais and vowing to return to some delicious looking food stands.

More wandering, crossing over to and through Village St Paul, back over again to find Breizh Café for Crepes and a coffee.  It was a crepe kind of day!!!

It was a rather pleasant day avec mon miel!!

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