Saturday in Paris

Christmas Tree Made from Drink Bottles

Strange; when I am working, I am waiting for the weekend to come.  Time to rest, get things done around the house, go out, be with friends.

It is no different in Paris.   People want to get out, meet friends and shop, the streets are busy, the shops pumping, especially with Christmas almost upon us.  However, I don't like it that much.

I prefer, when the Parisiens are at work and the streets are quieter and leave me to discover Paris, almost on my own.

After such a busy time since I arrived, relief that my bags arrived the same time I did this year and actually had some things to unpack.  Lunch at Cafe Panis, which overlooks the Notre Dame, dinner with Georgie at Place Contrescrape , my long Passage exploration and a concert to boot, I felt it time to do a bit of nesting, tidy up my already messy apartment and probably do what I would normally do on a weekend at home.

Unless you are super neat or have live in help, mundane chores still need to be done and my favourite ... doing the dishes, of course I am being sarcastic.  My apartment does come with the smallest dishwasher in the world but it seemed silly to use it.  Apart from breakfast all my meals have been spent in wonderful restaurants, cafes and brasseries.

The streets below were heaving with people going about their Saturday and wasn't sure I wanted to face it but I needed milk.

Then a very dangerous thing happened.

As I walked past BHV on the way back to the apartment, jostling past the ever increasing crowds of people, I spied my favourite French label, through a window, that looks down to the ground floor of the store. Living a block away from a department store that stocks my favourite label is going to be a problem over the next few weeks.  I immediately knew this meant the credit card was going to cop some damage and it did.

Georgie almost saved me with an invitation for lunch but I still had 20 minutes to spare, just enough time to try on and buy a new dress.

We met at the front of Hotel de Ville - the beautiful town hall, which now has the ice skating rink and carousels set up for Christmas, the square was full of families enjoying a day out.

Once Georgie and I managed to find one another amongst the crowds we headed for Les Philosophes, oddly enough, this brasserie owned by the same people as Le Petit fer a Cheval (my most favourite bar in Paris) I have never eaten here.

The food is almost as good as Le Petit fer a Cheval, the service is just as good and has a great atmosphere.  Lively, friendly and fun to be apart of.

My plans of going to the market to get some food for the apartment was abandoned, after all, tomorrow is another market day.

A lazy Saturday, a new dress, a good meal and good company, what more does a girl need in Paris?