Marilyn's update

dear friends -

i spent a good part of the day today shopping all by myself.  chris gave me detailed instructions - which i didn't manage either to bring with or even read.  even so i got just where he sent me and had wonderful fun.

les halles is the sight of the ancient market in paris.  in the 1100s a more permanent structure was built for farmers who came to market.  about 1970 the more permanent structure was removed and the markets moved to the suburbs of paris.  the area is still one of the best possible places to visit if you love food.  in a nearby eatery french onion soup was first made.  merchants who had worked through the night selling their wares to stores, restaurants and institutions had little enough left for themselves: bones, stale bread, onions and perhaps a bit of cheese.  just enough to make a superb bowl of soup.

there are any number of restaurant supply stores in the area who sell almost every pot, pan utensil or implement one might need or want in a kitchen.  or if one wants the best pate de fois gras, one would come here.  or the most highly rated bakery in paris.  or any number of delectable comestibles.  i am modest in my desires and came away more than happy with a boning knife, something i'll put to use as a knoon (combination knife and spoon), a cheese sandwich and fresh fruit.

in the midst of these gastronomic delights is an exquisite parisian ribbon shop.  i am a sucker for ribbons and this place is beyond compare.  few folks get to look inside my drawers upstairs in baltimore, but my daughters and grandsons know i have a large and colorful collection of spools of thread.  perhaps five drawers, each with hundreds of spools of silk, cotton and linen threads in every hue.  this small cabinet has always been one of my grandsons' favorite places to explore and each time they open the drawers to check out the threads i end up with a tangle of several dozen yards of thread to clip and discard.  it hardly seems like a waste when the boys and i get such pleasure from unwinding a bit of thread.  visiting the parisian ribbon store gave me the same great pleasure.  i bought a few yards of ribbon for myself and took some photos.  (it might be a week or so before i have time, but i'll get the photos online for everyone to see.)

the second largest church in paris is st. eustace at les halles.  according to wikipedia (and i fully concur) st eustace is another gothic gem in paris.  not quite as old as les halles, st. eustace became a parish in the 1200s.  while it is a gothic gem and has much regal and ceremonial history, it is also a church which is far more plebian than notre dame.  it is dedicated to, among other professions, fishmongers, orange sellers, egg merchants, corn carriers, salt scrapers, and second hand clothes dealers.  huge, stately, serene, showing her age, and still showing much glory, st. eustace is a lovely spot.  the organ has an array of 8000 pipes! and is breathtakingly beautiful in its symmetry and precision.  even without hearing a note played.

a fire station is situated on a narrow street adjacent to st. eustace.  since my grandsons and i like to visit fire stations, i have noted on earlier trips that there seem to be almost no fire stations in paris.  true.  fire codes must be very stringent because fires are infrequent here.  but today there was a call and the fire trucks had to wind their way out of one narrow street onto another.  parisian fire trucks and ambulances are runts compared to their american cousins. of course, paris is filled with nooks and crannies of shops and apartments which would burn to the ground if they were dependent on gigantic fire vehicles which couldn't negotiate streets and alleyways barely wide enough for auto traffic.

it was a wonderful day.  i am tired and happy.

love,

m