Eglise Saint-François-d'Assise

Wednesday, June 14th. We only ate a small amount of breakfast even though the Intercontinental offers an amazing brunch buffet. We were scheduled for a food tour of Marais today and wanted to fully enjoy it. We walked all through the Marais area - The Marsh - a historic district in Paris. It has a very artsy culture and is home to a large gay community. It is also the center of the Jewish community and is one of the oldest areas of Paris.

The food tour was better than we could have imagined. We had a croissant to start. We learned the history of food, architecture, and Paris. Anya bought a necklace outside the March Des Enfants Rouges. It was an orphanage where the children wore red capes like Superman. It became a city supermarket and is protected so it won't become commercial. We had macaroons and Grand Cru Chocolate with chocolate from Peru. Jean-Paul Hevin is the name of the Chocolatier. It was the best we had ever tasted. We had mint tea and North African msammen with bell pepper and spices. Msammen is a delicious square-shaped Moroccan bread that is traditionally enjoyed for breakfast with a cup of green mint tea. It is buttery, flakey and so light!

We saw a plaque regarding the processing places for Jews to go to Auschwitz and next to it was a yellow cheese shop. Polish Jews who survived Auschwitz opened it after WWII and painted it bright yellow like the Star of David. Sacha Finkelztajn La Boutique Jaune is the name of the bakery and we had beef piroshki - a puff pastry there.

Rue Des Rosiers was our favorite street. We had escargot on mushrooms and then finished off with cheese and wine.

The tour guide showed us a very ordinary plant but when you rubbed it and smelled your fingers it smelled like lemon. We bought one of these plants for the Bungalow when we got home.

He also showed us an early Paris bank and told us about people being paid in salt which is the origin of the word salary.

We were so hot and tired and sweaty as we walked a VERY long way from the Marais area to the Dior Museum to make our tour time. It was magical and beautiful. Every new door we went through took our breath away. We walked to Champs des Elysée and then took a cab home. It was so crowded and has changed so much over the years. It was not as built up and had small quaint stores when I first went to Paris!

We went to the grocery store near our hotel and had a St Germaine Spritz in the outdoor cafe of our hotel. We enjoyed another bed picnic. We walked 12 miles today!Read more