A Search for Fondue and the Gallery of Evolution

May 19, 2019 — Day 10 (Sunday)

Rainy Sunday and we went to church last night so we slept ‘til 7:15, checked email, ate breakfast, upped umbrellas and walked up rue Mouffetard looking for a carved tree on a building mentioned in an article we had seen. We found and photographed the tree, a rather odd looking thing and started looking for fondue although it was quite early. The Saveurs de Savoie that we love wasn’t open and had no hours posted so we walked on and found another fondue place, but it was playing loud rock music and we couldn't bring ourselves to enter. We walked on to Place Contrascarpe that was empty due to the rain. I'm not sure we've ever seen the popular square empty before. We decided to check Verse Toujours, another restaurant we enjoy, but it was early so on the way we stopped at Le Comptoir des Arts for hot chocolate . . . delicious!

Fortified with hot chocolate, we walked down to Verse Toujours but Ed didn’t care for the menu so decided the second fondue restaurant, even with bad music, would be better. Upped umbrellas and started the hike up rue Mouffetard again. It's becoming quite familiar . . . As we started to pass Saveurs de Savoie, we noticed it was now open and it had pleasant music. Voila! We entered and ordered the three-cheese fondue we had been looking for along with a Savoie wine. It was wonderful but there was so much we couldn’t begin to finish it. No dessert . . . stuffed! [Saveurs de Savoie at 83 Rue Mouffetard, 75005 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4587-9029]

We programmed my phone to walk to the Jardin des Plantes where we got tickets to the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution and entered along with half the families of Paris. We walked through the sea exhibits on the ground floor then went up to the long parade of animals. Next took the elevator to the top floor to work our way down. It was fun and interesting but most of the information was in French so much went over our heads. We covered it all and as we departed noted a huge line at the door . . . the other half of Paris waiting to get in. Click here for the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution web site

Fairly short walk home and I think we’re in for the night. Still stuffed from lunch . . . the portions were huge.