Bienvenue, Paris!

 Hello blahdeblahblah, you old thing! It's been ages, or at least more than two weeks, and a jet-lagged Sunday is probably not the ideal day for our reunion. Scott and I were in Paris for the last couple of weeks and a fine time it was too, despite the regular dumpings of torrential rain. Rain such as I don't know that I've seen since my Bellingham days. There were some blue skies, too, and golden light, and impromptu picnics in the park, with the makings of sandwiches picked up at street markets we happened across.

 What I already miss most is the number of boulangeries/patisseries per square foot that one finds in Paris. I could walk to three, maybe four, quite respectable providers of croissants and baguettes in less than three minutes from our Montmartre apartment. When willing to climb some stairs and add a few minutes to the expedition, I could reach twice that number. This morning Scott got up and went up to Bakery Nouveau but it wasn't the same, no, it really wasn't. Sigh.

 But it's also grand to be home; the house feels so huge and bright--and it also contains Gradka who seems to have gained a bit of weight under the care of the catsitter. The West Seattle farmers market on a crisp fall morning is also a fine thing. I realized that were we so inclined, we could easily put together a nice picnic from what we could buy there. And we could eat it under a clear sunny sky.

My plan is to milk this trip for a number of posts. For this installment, I'm tossing a few photos below and calling it good.

Cat on the Montmartre streets after dark; I'm hoping Scott was correct in believing that her owner would soon be home to let her in.

Head and hand of one of the Burghers of Calais in Rodin's garden

Possibly my favorite day of the trip . . . Monet's water lily pond in Giverny

Sure, I talk about the boulangeries but possibly it's the fromageries that I found it most impossible to pass by.