We slept in, and then made our way to what we will adopt as our neighborhood bakery. We each had a wonderfully flakey and buttery croissant, and shared a pain-au-chocolat for a friend back home. It is hard to beat a properly made croissant that was recently baked. No topping necessary, just pure enjoyment. The pain-au-chocolat was equally flakey, with just enough chocolate but not overly sweet. Of the two, I think I prefer the croissant.
We walked our neighborhood around the Pompidou Centre, and then headed towards the Seine where we were going to catch our # 69 bus, but this time in the opposite direction.
It was a longer wait than usual, perhaps because today was a National Holiday, but the bus finally came, and we took our seats. We enjoyed the views as we travelled east, around the Bastille, our old neighborhood from our last trip, and continued onward.
Today we were going to visit Pere Lachaise cemetery. We finally saw it, and quickly hopped off the buss. Only to realize that we got off too soon. Ideally, you should take the # 69 bus to the end, and get in by the other gate. So we walked more or less uphill through the center of the cemetery until we got to the other entrance.
There are maps posted in the cemetery, and there are shops that will sell more detailed maps. We used Rick Steves’ guidebook to Paris, and followed his path for the cemetery which was more than adequate.
From Jim Morrison (the most visited grave site) to Chopin (another heavily visited site) with other luminaries along the way like Oscar Wild. The oldest inhabitants, Abelard & Heloise rest there as well. Do yourself a favor, and do a follow the link we give for “Abelard and Heloise.” Living almost a thousand years ago, their love, love letters, and inspirational lives affected most Europeans for centuries. A pity that today’s curriculum spends so little time on good history.
Taking the # 69 back home, we got off a few stops early. As we walked, we wandered into a few stores, and by chance came across what was Hera’s favorite bakery on our last trip. We bought a pain-au-chocolat to compare with the one we had this morning, along with a torsade de chocolat, 2 macarons and a baguette to go with our supper.
They were all delicious, but I think our neighborhood bakery is still better. Perhaps we need to go back to Pain au Sucre and try their croissants and pain-au-chocolat?
For not having a sweet tooth, I have had more sweets in the past few days than in the past year. But it is heavenly!
