Tuesday, October 7, 2025

I had my first tour with Florence of French A’ la Carte this morning. She and I visited 3-4 chocolateries and patisseries in the 6th arrondisemente (left bank), specifically around Saint-Germain-des-Prés.  The first was Maison Le Roux Chocolatier & Carmelier. I got there before Florence, so I walked inside. I was expecting a busy shop due to the busy neighborhood; however, it was petite and calme (small and quiet). There was one shopkeeper, who I greeted immédiatement, with a friendly “Bonjour!” She returned the greeting. There was so little to look at that I was done in 2 minutes, so I said “Merci, au revoir” and walked out to the cobblestone street. Florence was right there on the doorstep, so after chatting for a few minutes about how I would order in French, we entered again.

We went to some amazing chocolate shops. They are shops I would generally have walked past without even noticing them. Each one had a distinctive character and origin story.

After our last shop- Pierre Hermé- where we sampled a fruity macaron (mah-kuh-rohn), we walked to the Palais de l’ Institut de France, which is on the Seine next to the Pont des Arts (famous bridge). We checked in at the front desk and got a visitor’s badge. Then Florence took me up a winding staircase to an historic library -Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France:

https://www.bibliotheque-institutdefrance.fr/

 It reminded me of the library at Trinity College, Dublin. Modern people study there with their laptops surrounded by books from way back that you can even touch! I loved it.

After a nap at home, I walked to the Dôme des Invalides. It’s so pretty. Walking down Avenue de Breteuil makes me feel at home because everyone has either dogs or kids. At Les Invalides I chatted with a girl about how to visit Napoleon’s tomb, but it was too late to enter that day because it was about 5:30 (17:30) pm and the place closes at 6 (18) pm. I went to the garden and wandered through, enjoying the beautiful landscape. I watched bunnies hopping through the hedges.  At 6 (18) pm security guards asked everyone to leave. I thought I could exit the way I came in, but they wouldn’t let us. So, we marched through the building to exit by the main entrance on Rue de Grenelle. I didn’t mind. As I left the grounds, I could see in the near distance the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais which has a gorgeous glass dome and it very recognizable.

It was one of the Paris Olympic sites:

https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/a-walk-around-the-grand-palais-olympic-site-paris-a1676