Ile de Cite and Ile de St. Louis are two islands in the Seine River that are so close to each other that they are connected by the short Pont St. Louis bridge. The closer one to our apartment is Ile St. Louis, and we have walked over there several times. You can see part of it in the accompanying photo with Renee in the foreground. Yesterday we walked the length of Ile St. Louis to the very end and crossed the Pont St. Louis to the larger Ile de Cite, the Island ...

A couple of days ago we re-visited St-Germain and made it a point to spend some time at the Luxembourg Gardens. By far, it was the most beautiful of the large public gardens we have seen in Paris. In the Gardens is a large palatial building that is the home of the French Senate. Originally, it was built in 1611 as a palace for Marie de Medici, the widow of King Henri IV. She asked that it be modeled after Florence's Pitti Palace, and that it have extensive Fl...

Yesterday, we went back to St-Germain to see more of this very beautiful district of Paris. There are famous sidewalk cafes like Les Deux Magots (pictured on this page) and Cafe De Flore (in our photos). Brasserie Lipp is in a prominent position on Blvd. St-Germain and it was frequented by Ernest Hemingway and other authors back in the 1920s. The beautiful St-Germain Des Pres church is visible from all of these cafes and restaurants. A few blocks away, we fou...

Steve's mom, who grew up in Toronto, always considered French pastries, especially chocolate eclairs, to be the best treats imaginable. So, as a kid, Steve had more than his share of the chocolate-iced, cream-filled delights. But, as an adult, he has always favored heavier, denser carb fixes, like good breads and scones. But, every patisserie in Paris features le eclair. So, on her early morning baguette run this AM, Renee picked up the little surprise pictured h...

In "The Sweet Life In Paris," David Lebovitz (American chef who lives in Paris) wrote about the best hot chocolate in Paris at Patisserie Viennoise. He said that the famous Angelina was good, but he liked the darker, not-so-sweet brew at Patisserie Viennoise. So, we just had to try it. Finding the narrow street, Rue de l'Ecole de Medicine, on the border of St-Germaine and The Latin Quarter was not so easy. But we found it and the tiny, very old patisserie. At 3:0...