I’m not sure if I’ve ever had a quiet weekend in Paris. I’ve had quiet Sundays for sure – most Sundays are like that luckily. But Saturday is always my day to explore. It’s when I discover new to me parts of Paris – restaurants, cafés, museums, exhibits, parks, neighborhoods – anything really. None of which are options right now. The lockdown is over, but so much is still off-limits.
Saturday
I started Saturday by the Seine. The water is especially calm and clear without the boat traffic. I could even see little pack of minnows! After my time in Normandy I’m used to being outdoors so much. It made me realize how much I miss the parks and gardens in Paris.
My next stop was Café Varenne for coffee. Going to Café Varenne feels like normal Paris to me. Afterwards, I was counting down the minutes until lunch. All week I waited for our Saturday Le Voltaire lunch to-go. I was excited for the food, but more so to see our friends there. We ended up going early to place our order and just sat around and talked for a while. Social interactions…I missed them.
More people started moving around Saturday afternoon, so that was a cue for me to go back home. I’m still not comfortable going too far from my apartment or being around lots of people. It seemed liked the perfect opportunity to pick up pizza from La Frégate and call it a day.
Sunday
Sunday morning is the organic version of Marché Raspail. I dragged Romain with me because I thought it would be a fun outing for us. It turns out we have different approaches to market shopping. I don’t think I’ll invite him to come along next weekend. 😉
We did accomplish what we came for and got everything we needed for our meals: jambon-beurre sandwiches with a Saint-Honoré (you can read Claudine’s post to find out why) for lunch and fresh pasta with pesto for dinner.
I took a nice walk around Saint-Germain-des-Prés and then ended the weekend the way I started it, by the Seine. There were more people on Sunday afternoon than there were on Saturday morning, but everyone kept their distance. More than anything it made me wish I had a boat.
It’s been more difficult than normal to pick up the pace today, but maybe because I’m already dreaming of another quiet weekend in Paris.