As hard as it is to leave my lovely husband in the mornings, I continue diligently to head off to school each day. I'm determined to get the most out of my 3 weeks of French lessons in Paris. I'm finding it challenging but I'm really pleased with the amount I've learned in such a short time, and that it's coming more naturally to use my French when out and about.
This afternoon after I walk home from school, my beautiful man (who shall hereafter be referred to as "l'H" - don't ask, it's an "in" joke that will forever remain secret!)...... and I head out to explore our local area. I want to show him some shops I discovered in my first week that I know he'll enjoy - shops that cater to his three loves (apart from me and his 3 beautiful kids, that is) - guitars, motorbikes and wood-turning! He's already done some exploring earlier in the day and although he made his own serendipitous local discovery, he also found that unfortunately many shops are closed on Mondays - oops, I forgot about that!
So although the shops are mostly closed, we still browse and enjoy wandering together along Boulevard Beaumarchais, Boulevard des Filles-du-Calvaire, and Boulevard du Temple as far as Place de la République, which is in the middle of a major face lift. Apparently you can book to take a tour of the renovation site.......we were happy just to photograph the impressive statue of Marianne depicting Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
We also take a peek inside the military barracks which has housed the French Republican Guard since 1947, and enjoy the quintessential Parisian buildings through the (still) bare deciduous trees.
The main shop I wanted to show him will be open tomorrow - a guitar shop that has the potential to delight and occupy my man for a good few hours while I'm busy conjugating irregular verbs :-)
I also show him a wood turner's premises with a selection of hand planes in the window, and several motorbike shops, some of which are open and just asking for us to go in and admire the bikes within. Now motorbikes take my husband's attention frequently so when we walk together we invariably end up looking at several bikes as we go, and I'm learning to say which ones I like - usually based purely on aesthetics ("I like that one, it looks sleek like the Bat Bike" - you know, that sort of thing........) ;-) There are bikes everywhere in Paris, so needless to say we stop frequently for the necessary admiring of the various bikes :-)
Heading back towards home we stop in at a local boulangerie for "une tradition, s'il vous plaît" - the most delicious type of baguette according to Parisians - then gradually make our way back to Place de la Bastille with it's iconic symbol of the revolution in the centre.
It's the landmark we search for to orient ourselves, and which has now been christened the "chick on a stick" by my gorgeous husband. It worked for a bit, the only problem is that when we looked more closely we discovered that she's clearly no chick at all......... never mind, the name has stuck now! ;-)
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