It's Saturday, our last weekend in Paris, and this morning we head over to the Latin Quarter, to Rue de Mouffetard (again) to browse in the lovely shops along this market street. The weather has turned colder and it's coats, scarves and gloves weather again. I'm cautiously hopeful that we might get a nice day tomorrow, as the weather website indicates. However, the forecast seems to change every 10 minutes, so it's entirely possible it will actually snow tomorrow (I wouldn't be surprised....). I guess we'll just wait and see.
Although the sun has gone away again it's still fine, and we enjoy the wander across the river and up the hill. As we stroll down Rue de Mouffetard, reading the menus outside the many little restaurants, we decide on the spur of the moment to have our fondue experience today, for lunch. Why not? We're over here and we have no other pressing plans, and no desire for crowded tourist destinations today.
We find a little restaurant that advertises its specialities as fondue, raclette and pierrade. That one will do, it looks quaint and authentic.
We order two fondues - mon cher mari decides to try the fondue à l'agneau (lamb) and I have the fondue savoyarde (three cheeses with apple). The meal is a good size, and comes with lovely sautéed potatoes and salad, and a big basket of bread to go with the cheese fondue (but goes well in hot oil too - mmmmmm!!).
We thoroughly enjoy our fondue meal - the first for my lovely husband - and it brings back memories for me of having fondues when I was a child. My mum had a fondue pot (I remember it as being copper??) and we sometimes had oil fondues, sometimes cheese, and I think occasionally even chocolate. Yum!
After lunch we head home a different way - this time through the Jardin des Plantes. I'm determined to see evidence of spring before I leave this city!! And today, voila! spring has sprung (or at least it's in the process of springing.......). And here's the evidence.............
.......... a magnificent Cerisier du Japon (or japanese flowering cherry, complete with sign underneath the tree that says "this tree is fragile, you are advised not to climb"!!) and the tree is sectioned off to protect it (and potential climbers), but a crowd of admirers has gathered around anyway. It's absolutely laden with the most gorgeous white blossoms.
There are also daffodils, grape hyacinths, magnolias, and other beautiful trees either flowering or starting to show new green leaf shoots. We thoroughly enjoy our wander through the gardens, past the menagerie (zoo) and then down to the river, where we continue to wend our way home via the islands.
We walk around the promenade of Île Saint-Louis, down at river level, and right along to the eastern tip - just because we can. Here the trees are starting to green up too. I love spring, and I've been waiting for weeks to see Paris starting to bloom, so I've got my wish now! Aaahhh, all is well with the world :-)
There are also daffodils, grape hyacinths, magnolias, and other beautiful trees either flowering or starting to show new green leaf shoots. We thoroughly enjoy our wander through the gardens, past the menagerie (zoo) and then down to the river, where we continue to wend our way home via the islands.
We walk around the promenade of Île Saint-Louis, down at river level, and right along to the eastern tip - just because we can. Here the trees are starting to green up too. I love spring, and I've been waiting for weeks to see Paris starting to bloom, so I've got my wish now! Aaahhh, all is well with the world :-)
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