L'Ile Saint Louis and the Hôtel de Sens

May 21, 2019 — Day 12 (Tuesday)

The day started bright and sunny so we foolishly decided to leave our umbrellas at home. We walked to our Metro stop and took the Metro to Hôtel de Ville for the start of one of Ed’s Paris Walks (#10). We exited the Metro and got our bearings and soon arrived at St. Gervais Church (Église Saint-Gervais and Saint-Protais). The sun was shining through the wonderful stained glass windows in the soaring church. There are very old windows but there are also five marvelous modern stained glass windows by Sylvie Gaudin (and Claude Courageux). There is a stunning oak crucifix by Antoine-Augustin Préault along with a beautiful old clock, sculptures and several paintings. It is a beautiful church on a small peaceful square.

We stopped at the religious book store on rue des Barres looking for a book about the stained glass but had no luck. Wandered around the corner and up rue du Pont Louis-Phillippe and turned right onto Rue François Miron to discover two marvelous medieval half-timbered houses. We continued through the Marais and found some quaint little shops including spices from the Middle East and Aux Merveilleuse, a patisserie, where two young ladies were having a grand time finishing the little cakes in the window. We started passing cafés and checking menus and finally decided to lunch on the Isle Saint-Louis so we walked over and started checking menus. We ended up at La Brasserie de l’Isle Saint-Louis with a very nice older waiter who reminded us of Tony, one of our ushers at church. Ed got Coq au Riesling and I got the daily special of Osso Buco, both good. However, the Berthillon’s ice cream was the star of the meal. Our delightful waiter gave Ed a chocolate with my coffee . . .

Walked to my favorite scarf store, Diwali’s, and didn’t find anything I particularly liked. Their prices have easily doubled which didn’t help. It was sprinkling when we left and soon turned to a very hard rain. We waited under a construction overhead until I ran down to a tabac and bought an umbrella. That effectively stopped the rain! What power . . .

We walked on to the Hôtel de Sens/Bibliotheque Forney for the exposition, “A Life in Colors, from Matisse to Prévert” of book illustrations by Jacqueline Duhême. They were children’s books and thoroughly charming. We left in search of the ancient Paris city wall and had no trouble finding it since it was surrounded by tour groups. Continued to Place du Marché Sainte-Catherine that was very quiet on a rainy day. Stopped at Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis on our way to the Metro station and finally hopped the Metro home stopping for bread on the way. Good day.