Tom and I had planned to go to the Louvre this morning, but the sun was shining so we set off to see the Sainte Chappelle, with its magnificent stained glass windows. On a sunny day the interior of the chapel is ablaze with colored light from the windows; you would swear you can hear a heavenly chorus. When we arrived a gendarme was putting up a sign that said the Chapel was closed today, and the only chorus you could hear was the disappointed voices of the crowd in line. It's not far from our apartment, so we can see it another day.
We set off to do a little sight-seeing and shopping in a tonier part of town. Neither of us had ever visited the Palais Royal, which was Cardinal Richelieu's home before it became the childhood home of Louis XIV. You can't go inside the buildings, which today house the Ministry of Culture and the Council of State (supreme legal body for administrative matters). But the garden is lovely, even in winter, and there's a neat courtyard with rows of stone columns of varying heights, added in the 1980's. We'll come back in the summer when we can stroll through the gardens in warmer weather.
Nearby is the Rue Saint Honore, one of Paris' most exclusive shopping streets. We looked in the windows of Baby Dior, but decided we'd just as soon not spend $120 on a sun hat, or $150 for a teddy bear. So we headed back towards our apartment, where the shops are more reasonable, quirky and interesting. We found a cute onesie for Juliet, some olive oil for Matt and Jeanne, vinegar, onion confit and tea for us, chocolate for the nurses at the hospital, and generally had a lot of fun shopping, window and otherwise. We had lunch and then walked it off, before heading to Matt and Jeanne's.
The evening was uneventful; Matthew worked late so we had to eat without him. Tom and Jeanne tried to outdo each other by finding the best music videos on YouTube, so we had non-stop music for three hours; Juliet and I did a lot of "baby-dancing". Jeanne made us a wonderful dinner of quiche, salad, bread and cheese and bakery desserts. We are always well-fed!
Jeanne's father, Jean, is coming into town tomorrow and we will have a family dinner. We made plans to see him during the day tomorrow, for lunch and an exhibition at the Rodin Museum. The days fly along and I am flying right along, too; I am so happy and grateful to have this time with my son, belle fille and granddaughter. Today another picture of Tom and Juliet; he is so cute with her! He is absolutely smitten.
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