I had planned on starting my Friday out visiting a place that was on my first Paris trip to do list that I didn't get to go called Le Centre Culturel Suedois. I read about it on the Net and found out that it was known for it's quaint outdoor terrace surrounded by gardens. It was said that you could get a really great coffee & a selection of pastries there for only 3 EUR. Plus, they were supposed to have a couple of free art exhibits there. Only problem was, it was closed for the summer, so I couldn't go when I was there in July & August, so when I found out it was re-opening on Aug. 28, I wanted to make it there on my 2nd trip. When I looked online at their website when I arrived earlier that week, it didn't have any specific exhibits listed though. I figured I'd go anyways & that there must be some stuff there to look at - plus I could enjoy a good morning coffee on the terrace. I ended up leaving a little later than I had planned to, but I found the place without a problem. It turned out to be a much cooler day than I had hoped too, cooler than the previous day, and a little windy & gray. To my disappointment when I went into the centre, the woman at the counter told me that there were no exhibits until Sep. 14th - you couldn't even get in! There were a couple of people on the terrace at the time, having coffee, but since it was already close to lunch time, I figured I'd eat my packed lunch first & then get a coffee later on.
Across the street from the centre, I could see a beautiful garden with park benches. I crossed the street & walked a little further & there was another one. I went back to the 1st one, took some pics & sat on the bench & read for awhile. It got really overcast at one point & even with my jean jacket & light scarf, I was chilly - mind you, I had a skirt on with bare legs - wrong day for that!
I had my lunch then went to the garden next door & took a few more pics. Check out this flower closeup - it looks almost fake!
Even after a couple of hours of picture taking, reading & relaxing, I still wasn't in the mood to have a coffee yet. I got a bit of the wanderlust & decided to walk around for a half hour or so then get a coffee at the centre about a 1/2 hr before they were going to close. I fell upon a little gift store that had mostly linens, fancy dessert plates and high-end perfumes & bath stuff. I was looking around for a gift I could give Julie for her birthday. I then ended up in front of an O & CO store - I couldn't believe my good fortune! I recognized the logo as we shopped in one when we went to Vancouver. I remembered they had big square bars of olive oil soap there that Julie had bought herself that she adored.
The front of the store had tons of olive trees for sale, some spilling out onto to the sidewalk - they looked beautiful (& expensive - starting at 60 EUR, I think!). There was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the entrance made from round bottles of olive oil & strings of tiny Christmas lights. As you walk in, the first thing you see is a whole bunch of pottery - olive oil & vinegar cruets, containers to serve olives in...& there were different types of fleur de sel as well. Moving on were a bunch of different gift boxes - on the back wall, there were a variety of different products, including a white truffle spread - and samples of it on tiny baguette slices on the shelf! I then noticed on the tables running down the centre of the store had all kinds of samples set up of different tapenades & various types of crackers. Where to start?! I think I tried every single one!
I finally reached the beauty products section & found the soap, picking up a bar of it as part of Julie's bday gift. There was such a large choice of stuff, I couldn't believe how many things were packed into one tiny store! Back at the front of the store near the cash were 4 types of olive oils on special, all for about 11 EUR or more, so I figured I should buy one for home since we cook with it all of the time & really appreciate a good quality oil. I tasted & smelled them all, and all of them seemed to not really have a strong smell or taste to them. I asked the clerk for a recommendation & she recommended the 4th one, which was not in a bottle but in a large can & was more expensive. She did say all of them were similar in quality & taste, so I went with the Tunisian one, as it was the fruitiest smelling one (knowing Shawn would chastize me for not buying the one from his homeland Israel!). The cashier was having major technical problems with her cash, so thankfully I had cash on me to pay & she had to make me a receipt by hand.
I kept walking & ran into a tea shop - another slice of heaven for me! There were rows & rows of vaccuum sealed silver pouches of tea & on the shelf in front of each selection was a little cap you could slide off & inside a little cup built into the shelf was a sample you could see & smell. The 1st green tea I looked at was a vanilla one - something I'd never seen or tasted before. It had long leaves & smelled amazing - it has 2 types of vanilla, one of them being bourbon - the smell was truly decadent & it was relatively inexpensive, so I had to buy it! There was a huge urn of tea you could sample on the table with the 'special of the day' - I had a cup & it was another green tea, very mild - the taste reminded me of the green sencha we bought at grenouille dans une théière at Courtney's shower. It had tiny bits of popped corn & rice in it & I was torn on which one I should buy. Since the vanilla was my 1st love & was not similar to anything I had, I chose that one, as I didn't really want to spend the equivalent of almost $20 CDN on tea (at 6 EUR a bag...).I attempted then making my way back to the Centre Culturel, knowing I probably would not make it back there by 2:30 PM, as it was already past 2:00 PM. As most people know, I have a terrible sense of direction, especially in foreign places, and even though I felt like I was retracing my exact steps, I started not recognizing streets & stores & knew I was getting way off track & was deep in Le Marais. Knowing that the Centre Culturel was not meant to be (even my pics of it didn't end up coming out because the camera was set wrong, unbeknownst to me at the time!), I started looking for a main street to situate myself to eventually find a metro station if I was stuck. All of a sudden, I recognized the building I could see in the distance - it was unmistakeably Le Centre Georges Pompidou - no other building in Paris or in the world could have such similar architecture, with pipes on the outside of the building! I was relieved. As I approached it, I noticed a side to this centre that Shawn & I had not seen when we visited it on my last trip - there was a huge fountain with really cool looking sculptures in it - my favourite was these lips with the water gushing through them :
I remembered the walk from the metro to Pompidou was a little tricky & you had to go through a few side streets, so I headed off & was proud of myself as I recognized some of the shops that had seen & that I was on the right track! And then, all of a sudden, I ran into a huge Zara store on a corner & I thought "Yes! Shopping!". I had originally planned to head over to the Galeries Lafeyette/Au Printemps area later in the day to return back to the little street stall I had bought my little black sweater at last trip. I was specifically looking for a couple of tops to go with this gorgeous, stylish belt that Shawn's Aunt Bella had recently given to me from Israel. It is a big chunky belt made of worn brown leather with lots of tarnished metal on it that you need to wear over a long top. I had seen some grey long tops that were going to be in style this Autumn at this stall, but was not looking forward to going all the way to that area again just for that. Now that I had fallen upon what looked like a great shopping district, and I was no longer lost, I didn't have to go anywhere & could spend my afternoon shopping here! After not finding anything to my liking in Zara, I found a huge H&M store & after long waits in the changing room lines, I purchased a short-sleeved brown cowl neck long sweater (with little sparkles woven in the wool) that will go really well with the belt, as well as two unique looking Fall/Spring scarves at excellent prices (that are so hard to find in Montreal for those in-between seasons!). Happy with all of my purchases, I spotted a Starbucks & determined I needed a little pick-me-up. I selected an iced chai as I was too thirsty for a hot coffee. The prices are the same as here by the way, but only in Euros (i.e. a $4 drink here costs 4 EUR there, but multiply by 1.5 & you are really paying $6 CDN for a coffee or drink there!). I called La Coupole, a restaurant that had been recommended to me by a colleague, to make reservations for the next night, as we had decided to go out to a fancy French restaurant to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, as we had not had time the previous weekend when Shawn was visiting home. I was told that they do not make reservations and that if it is busy, we just will need to wait at the bar for a table - they recommended getting there early. I then decided to give Shawn a call at his office, since I had this prepaid phone card now with lots of money on it still. I gave him the news about the resto & he mentioned that he & Howie also had difficulty making reservations & that it must be that not many places in Paris take res's. I also wanted him to situate me to determine how to meet him at metro Quatre-Septembre after work so we could go for sushi again at Koba. He told me that I was only a few blocks away & to find le rue Sébastropol & I'd find my way to the metro.
So, I set & found a store called Christina along the way, a lot of their stuff was cheap (& looked it!) but I managed to find a long-sleeved grey top with a long vertical slit in the neckline that closes with a pretty button that could be worn with the belt too. Along my way, I also walked by a perfume shop that had a lot of their merchandise on display on the sidewalk - soaps, incense, etc. I decided to pick up a very large bar of Marseille soap that had chunks of fresh mint in it to go with Julie's present, and 10 incense sticks (all different scents), because I know she loves burning incense and they had some with really cool scents like Opium & Cannabis! The walk seemed much longer than Shawn had described it, I ended up having to walk through a huge semi-industrial sector that had tons of store fronts with gorgeous fashionable clothing & accessories in their windows but with signs posted stating that the sold wholesale only. Most were already closed, but I saw a few people making large purchase either by stuffing them in huge plastic bags or pushing clothes racks down the street. I had seen similar shops & shoppers in Le Marais earlier in the day when I was lost. I walked so much that I realized that I had already passed the metro & had walked too far, so I doubled back & waited for a bit & Shawn showed up.
There were a few more tables filled when we arrived at opening time at Koba than last time. Our waiter & chef Koba acknowledged us as we walked in - we got seated at the corner table near the door & we had a waitress this time. We ordered chef's choice again & 2 cans of Japanese beer, but this time we got all sushi & no sashimi. We made sure to mention no fatty tuna this time, we found it too chewy last time. With the extra rice, we (well, Shawn, since I am a bottomless pit when it comes to sushi!) got full faster. In the middle of our meal, we were brought this creation, compliments of the chef. Gosh, we love it here! The green roe actually tasted like very hot wasabi so I had to scrape mine off onto Shawn's (which he didn't mind a bit!). By the time we left, it was packed with regulars, without a free table in sight!
I had originally planned on checking out a night club later that night, since we had planned to our anniversary dinner for Saturday night, which would probably be long & leisurely and end late, but Shawn was really tired from the travel & preferred we save our outing for the next night & we went back to the apt to rest & relax - after such a long day, I was beat too, admitedly! We caught up on some missed episodes of BB8 on his laptop then fell into a deeepp sleep......
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