Paris Day 3

A gorgeous day in Paris so I headed to one of my favorite places - the Luxembourg Garden. To Parisians what Central Park is to New Yorkers on a smaller scale.

I take a picture from the same spot every time I’m in Paris and it always makes me happy. I definitely had plenty of company as the park was packed, but it’s big and everyone was enjoying the day. The bottom right picture has the Panthéon in the background. Lots of benches and green chairs to sit on and enjoy the park.

One of my favorite restaurants all the way back to 2016 has relocated to just outside the garden so that was lucky and I went there for a nice lunch. It’s called Trieze au Jardin and I sat outside with the park right across the street. I had the artichoke pie as they call it but more like a quiche crust. Delicious!

France has a number of beautiful churches and I like to stop and visit when I’m walking by and have the time. Sometimes I go out of my way to see them and St Sulpice is one of those churches. I love the architecture and lots of times they have beautiful artwork inside. With the fire at Norte Dame and reconstruction project going on St Sulpice which is not too far from Norte Dame has taken on additional significance. It was patterned after St Paul’s Cathedral in London and is really a beautiful building. It has three huge paintings by Delacroix right as you walk in on the right. I like to give thanks to a higher power for all my blessings and say some prayers for friends and family.

Now for a totally different experience I headed to see Samaritaine. I had read about it recently in the states so here is a brief history. La Samaritaine was a historic Parisian department store that closed in 2005. It had been in business since 1869 and had a beautiful Art Nouveau facade. It’s located right at the Seine River and the Pont Neuf Bridge. It was purchased by LVMH - the luxury goods corporation most well known for Louis Vuitton. So fast forward to 2021 when after an extensive revamp it has been reopened. I really wanted to see it from an architectural aspect and it was absolutely stunning.

I’ve seen a number of restaurants around Paris that have these beautiful flower displays on top. I love them! Let’s do this in Chicago too! Here is a sampling of what I’ve seen.

And in the vein of let life surprise you - the joy of aimless wandering - I happened across this group of at least 100 random people doing ballet across one of the bridges of the Seine River. Lots of people stopped to watch and everyone was smiling - dancers and watchers. A shared experience by all.

That was my day! Hope yours was wonderful as well. 💕