Our first full day in Paris, beyond Marché Bastille {Bastille Market}, was unplanned. The only things we knew for certain were that we wanted deux cafés and a bite to eat. Within minutes of entering the market, we found or café, a croissant for mom, a quiche for me, and cannelés for both of us to try.
I expected to find cheese. Lots of it. So after sitting on a marble bench enjoying crisp air and warm eats, I wasn’t surprised to find seemingly endless rows of vendeurs de fromage.
But what did catch me by surprise was the amount of fresh seafood and meat available. There were easily ten times as many varieties of fish and cuts of meat at this market than at your best American grocery.
And that thing about the French being rude to Americans? We found that a well-timed smile and a simple “bonjour” was all that was needed in exchange for the guidance we were looking for.
After Marché Bastille, we headed to Marche d’Aligre , which didn’t have nearly as many options. But if this market was at home, you’d better bet that I’d be hitting this place up on the regular for blog props as vintage plates and silverware were a plenty.
From there we headed to Jardin du Luxembourg. Filled from end to end with statues and perfectly manicured autumn trees, this garden was of the most beautiful outdoor spaces I’d ever seen. My favorite was the Fontaine Médicis {pictured above}.
The lion statues really didn’t do much for me as I was walking by. But as I turned around to take a last look of all of the sights I’d just seen, I noticed that the lion and I were soaking up the same view of Luxembourg Palace. And the view of the lion viewing the Palace felt pretty special to me.
And as we were exiting Luxembourg, the Fontaine des Quatre du Parties World caught my attention. The contrast between the patinated bronze and the burnt orange, fall leaves in the backdrop was breathtaking.
Many businesses and museums were closed because it was Sunday, but we managed to fill our day getting acquainted with the city on foot, walking almost 20,000 steps {about 10 miles!}. My first impression of Paris is that it’s one of those cities that you can walk without purpose for hours on end and feel accomplished by that alone.
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