In the necklace du Paris, we are adding the beads. 

Here is an article to read. https://ckarchive.com/b/75u7h8h699kkzb6rgg7rlawl85666tnhordn0

Sunday morning quiet in the apartment. My ears still plugged from the flight. Haha. We had a wonderful walk by the river in the city of lights last evening. Then enjoyed telling stories and a game of cards. Slept a full night and now preparing for the day. 

Walk to Sacre Coeur. Through quaint pretty little streets alive with ceramics and tourist baubles. Walking groups. 

A moment in Catholic Church service. Organ playing. Voices in song. The acoustic sound reminds me of a time long ago. Someone had a vision for this cathedral. 

Pushing through throngs of people gathered for a Sunday morning run, organized and wearing numbered purple t shirts. Bouncing to the music. I can hear the church bells clanging through the sounds. UrbanTrail. We persue the goal to see the sights of Paris from Sacre Coeur. ! The run begins Down the steep cobblestone streets. We paid for a novel ride down funicular. We passed a women’s lingerie shop but decided not to go in. 

Angel store contains everything angels!. Rubber duck store of all themed little yellow ducks. Chocolate specialty shop, Dengo. Omg. We taste and try. We purchase some treats. Amazing. 

Bougies candle store. Fragrance store. 

Copains is totally gluten free enjoying pizza, focaccia bread, flan, cookies and other delights. Beautiful French pastries all gluten free. Magically presented. We sit inside and try. 

Towards the outdoor market. A free street toilet is pleasantly surprising. We find weekly flea market for several blocks. Shopping. Browsing. Looking. Touching. Then to cemetery. A very old place, walking between little houses with family names. We share a gf cookie on a park bench. Peaceful. Quiet and amidst the city. Gentleman playing accordion in open cafe. We stop for the briefest moment. Back home to drop off treasures. 

St eustache cathedral with huge organ. More tour groups everywhere. Stained glass, candles, wooden pews. 

A map of where we can find crème brûlée in the area. Goal for later. People watching, kissing of both cheeks. Fashion forward women and men. 

The Bourse de Commerce for a large blue liquid pool full of white ceramic bowls moving gently. So many people the sound is muted and lost in the large 4 story room with glass dome. We have tickets. 

Reflections. Beads. Another. All making music, subtle. Gentle. Nevertheless. Can I just listen and hear the bowls?  Singing. Apart from the words and talking sounds. There it is, the music. 

The craving mind wants more quiet, more bowls, less chatter. The grateful mind hears the song. Thank you

The sunshine through the glass dome. Reflections on ceiling. Magic. Up the elevator checking out each floor and finding the little mouse art. I bought a postcard for boys. 

Five Guys for fries (gf) on way to Shakespeare and Co. , Notre Dame cathedral and walking over some bridges. 

We line up for the book store only five minutes till close. No time to shop in a meaningful way. But fun and we went inside- bead. Over the beautiful bridge to Notre Dame cathedral for the bells ringing at end of service. The people spill out. 

We find a grocery store and pick up Comte cheese, bubbly water, green olives, red wine from Bordeaux with a new corkscrew.   Down to the river by a bridge. Waving at the passengers. Such a lovely way to spend the evening. Good friends. Another bead moment. 

Back to the bridges for sparkling lights view and people watching. Couldn’t get the metro so we bussed to the area. Walked to La Village for shared crème brûlée. More walking up up the hill. Ready for another relaxing evening and good sleep. 

Late start. Sleep in and big breakfast of healthy veggies in lentils and curry on salad. 

Time to write my blog and post from yesterday.  

Metro to a large produce market, alas, it was closing up when we arrived. I got a glimpse of colourful olives, vegetables and cheeses. I stopped abruptly to admire the pink and pale peonies ready to burst into bloom. Photos and memories is what we get from this market. 

We walk to a grocery market store and pick up picnic items for an outdoor snack with nibblies (Hagen Das salted caramel ice cream, fresh berries. We sit on a park bench to admire the iconic Eiffel Tower from up close. Also great people watching. Families and couples, individuals, shoppers, children squealing, laughing and playing, Saturday persons. Birds tweeting in the trees. A school band practicing playing classical music in the park. The sun came out!  Ahhhhh, Paris. A rest and very enjoyable. 

Then we walked to the Eiffel Tower and around the bridges over the river. Second snack stop for cheese and olives and gf crackers. So lovely and a change of perspective view of the tower. So many wedding photo shoots here today, maybe ten that we saw. There must have been lots more. So festive and happy, all the happy couples posing together. 

Then to the metro to find IKEA. Interesting to find it in a mall that is conveniently located next to a metro stop. We shopped for bargains that are needed in the home. So much fun, a few laughs and lots of stuff to carry back at the end. Big IKEA bags through small metro styles. But we got seats and the walk up up up the hill from Pigalle metro station. 

Now putting all the IKEA items together. And enjoying a dry red Bordeaux and a few more giggles.