Saturday 4, Sunday 5 October 2025

Saturday was a big walking day, exploring Île de la Cité and Île St Louis on the way to a late lunch at Bonhomme Restaurant at Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière. While a long walk, it was good to see some of the streets we had not walked on previous visits, particularly Rue Montorgueil. This is a street in the 1st and 2nd arrondissements of Paris, lined with restaurants, cafés, bakeries, fish stores, cheese shops, wine shops, produce stands and flower shops. They say it’s the centre of Paris gastronomy.

On the way home, a giant black cloud drifted towards us and as predicted, the storm broke as we entered the Metro. Here, Lady P, being a little lass, dove into a completely crowded carriage. The doors slammed shut, leaving Flashy standing on the platform. Luckily, he had memorised the Metro stop of our apartment, so he caught the next train three minutes later. Always have a plan B. Emerging into our neighbourhood, there were signs of the wind and rain just passed but we made it home safely.

Lunch was excellent, by the way. Lady P not impressed with the plating, though. Tough critic.

Starters were Raviole aux blettes – chard and bone marrow ravioli, coriander, peanuts, beef jus, cauliflower cream: Crabe with bisque, corn risotto and pomegranate: Mains were Bar poche – poached sea bass and Veau Rose – lightly smoked veal, jalapenos and celeriac. We shared Poire poche with riz au lait, vanille and gelee d’hibiscus. Champagne to start and a Rose with the meal.

Sunday was cold, so the merino scarf was called for. A two hour canal cruise was booked for 10.00 am. We arrived at 9.45 to find the boat almost full of retired folk like us. We had an amazing cruise up the Canal St Martin.

The Canal Saint-Martin is a 4.6 km long canal in Paris, connecting the Canal de l'Ourcq to the river Seine. Nearly half its length, between the Rue du Faubourg du Temple and the Place de la Bastille, was covered by amazing, curved brick roofs in the mid-19th century, creating beautiful tunnels and wide boulevards and public spaces on the surface. We passed through nine locks and two swing bridges, rising an elevation of 25 metres upstream. A very pleasant morning interlude.

In search of a Negroni as winter medicine, we came to Brasserie Balou on rue Louis Blanc. Very friendly young staff produced double Negronis and a couple of decent burgers. Foregoing the Metro, we walked home to a warn flat.

Sea Bass.
Pink, smoked veal.
rue Montorgueil.
Ile St Louis.
Canal St Martin tunnel.
Swing bridge.
Its Paris Fashion Week.
Light and air for the canal tunnel.


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