What a fantastic day!

I woke up refreshed, had a cup of tea and set out to find this one boulangerie - Daniel Du Puy - which is in my neighborhood. I tried previously, but went the wrong way on rue Cadet. Today, I found it, but it was closed on Tuesdays. Merde! But seriously folks, this is Paris, so I walked half a block down, found another artisan boulanger, and got a spectacular croissant. Jumped on the metro headed to the 5th arrondissment - the Latin Quarter.

Emerged with the Seine in front of me, and with the Fontaine St. Michel behind.

The archangel Michael victorious over the devil.

This is what I felt like a few nights ago!

I started walking down the big Boulevard Saint-Michel. My hours of obsessive pre-trip research paid off exactly as I hoped...as I was walking, I noticed, among the hundreds of shops, one I recognized from Chowhound - Pierre Oteixa. A small shop that specializes in Basque taste treats. This would never have been a destination spot, but I'm glad I ran across it.

As much as I wanted one of those amazing-looking sandwiches, I opted for some jars of different conserves to try later. Not surprisingly, given the region, they had lots of products I recognize from Spain - jamon iberico/jambon de porc noir, chorizo...

Onward towards La Sorbonne, and to the Cluny museum....also closed on Tuesdays. I thought I had double checked that one, but nope. Sigh. The good news is that the building itself is incredible, and the gardens behind it were open, so I got to go exploring.

First thing you see are the Thermes de Cluny - remains of a Gallo-Roman (the era of Roman Empire rule over Gaul, which comprised much of central Europe) dating to the early second century. These were baths - they had a frigidarium (cold room), caldarium (hot room) and a tepidarium (just right), and were open to the public.

Barbarians apparently ransacked the place in the late 3rd century, but this must have been a pretty attractive spot, because about 1,000 years later, the abbots of Cluny built their living quarters right next door.

 

This is the garden - used for food, for medicinal herbs, for raising flowers that had religious symbolism. A rich and powerful abbot built the place into a mansion 150 years after the abbots built it (had it built), and it seems that Henry VIII's sister Mary Tudor stayed here (rather unwillingly) for a time. Today, people bring their lunch here to eat on the benches surrounding the plants... funny to see McDonald's bags and tupperware spread out in this context.

On down through the 5th to the Arenes de Lutece. Lutetia/Lutece was the name of Paris in the Roman era, and this arena was discovered in the mid-1800s when Paris was modernizing under Napoleon III and the infamous Baron Haussmann. Haussmann's massive restructuring decimated much of medieval Paris, but when the 1st century Roman arena was uncovered, a massive protest, led by Victor Hugo, convinced the powers that be to preserve the spot.

Walking into the arena, much as people did 2000 years ago.

 

Here is a look around....

There were a bunch of school groups eating lunch and playing... I think this is the last week of school here. A smaller group of young people were dressed in togas, and preparing to present some kind of play. Something about being able to perform as Romans, where Gallo-Romans performed 2000 years ago, is extremely cool.

But, they performed in the arena floor, not on the stage, which is intact, with little stone niches from that era intact as well. Now they have benches in them, where more lunchers lunched.

To get up to the stage, you have to walk around the back, and wind up some steep, uneven stairs. The stonework is wild.

And once at the top, relaxing on a Haussmann-era bench in a Gallo-Roman era niche on the stage, I was able to access free Wifi on my iPhone.

***France is getting slaughtered by Sweden, so the guys across the street below are in mortal agony. Cannot say how much I love sitting in my little apartment, with rain coming down, watching football and listening the the sounds of my increasingly familiar and dear neighborhood.***

Back to the day...I left the Arenes de Lutece and headed out for Rue Mouffetard - another famous market street. Not a street market, but rather a narrow, cobblestone street lined with little shops and restaurants under residences. I gather that this used to be the road leading from Lutece to Rome, back in the day. It escaped Haussmann's bulldozing - I guess because it was far enough away from the city center, and on the backside of a hill.

I stopped into a shoe store and found a 10 euro pair of leather ballerina flat! They were 30, and I said I would pass...they suddenly came down to 10. I didn't even realize I was haggling!

Stopped at a boucherie/charcuterie with a dizzying display case...

Look at the caul fat lace on the pate au lapin

 ...and got suckered into a tiny place with a dozen different tartes/pies in the window. The sign said "made fresh in the old way." Imagine my surprise when I was helped by a very young Asian woman who spoke English. Hm. I got a slice of salmon and spinach tarte - took it to go. It was so wet it soaked through the paper wrapping, so I think it must have been frozen. Not sure. It's for lunch tomorrow...maybe...
 

This is a shot of the ubiquitous street rotisserie - see why I just had to buy one the other day?

 
I stopped into the boulangerie Bruno Beaudet for a demi-baguette and some chouquettes. Those little puffs make me crazy - LOVE them. Good baguette, but so far, Eric Kayser's baguette is the best I have had.

Well, I guess I'm going to stop here, because I am getting sleepy. Tomorrow is the Louvre...I'm going in the afternoon/evening to avoid the heights of the tourist crowds. I'm going to try again in the morning for Daniel DuPuy, and once I have had breakfast, I will post the rest of today. A MAGICAL visit to an old-world sweet shop, and a trip to Marche St. Quentin that provided the makings of my very yummy dinner.

cabillaud poché dans un bouillon de légumes du marché