Well, it seems like the sunny days, they're back again

No class today, and sunny and warm outside? This was a combination I had to take advantage of, so I woke up early this morning and went for a long walk through the city (after a quick coffee and croissant on the Seine, of course). It was a gorgeous day, and I wandered by the Musee d'Orsay, which I remember being one of my favorite museums from my last visit to Paris. I'm a little museumed-out after Amsterdam, so I decided to save that for another time.


Walked through Espace Pierre Cardin, and by the Grand Palais, built for the 1900 World's Fair (along with the Palais de la Decouverte and the Petit Palais).


Continued down Avenue Rapp, passing a building with a gorgeous art nouveau facade, and a few blocks away, passed by the restaurant we're going to tomorrow evening to celebrate a bunch of classmates' July birthdays.


By this time, I was getting hungry, so I stopped into a boulangerie to pick up a sandwich (and some caneles for dessert, I couldn't resist!). My picnic (and reading material):


My locale:


As an aside, this book is fantastic and anyone who has ever lived in Paris or wanted to should read it. I picked it up on the advice of my favorite source of book recommendations, and it was later mentioned to me by a few other trusted sources. I'm tearing through it, and loving it more with every passing page.

Interestingly enough, the section of the book I was reading over lunch referenced a culinary bookstore located just a few blocks away, so when I was done with my picnic, I headed over there to browse. Stopped into a lovely tea shop down the street, and then wandered over to Rue du Bac, a shopping street that ends at the Bon Marche and its Grande Epicerie. On my walk home, I decided I'd make dinner at home today (cobbling together some leftovers and some new stuff), so stopped along the way for groceries.

Now it's time to make dinner -- consomme with savory puff pastries, spicy burgers, and some leftover caneles from lunch. (I've been snacking on my apero of chevre on a raisin/hazelnut ficelle and a lovely glass of red wine as I wrote this.) Lesson #1: When a steak knife is the best knife you have in your flat, perhaps you should reconsider your plan to dice an onion.