A very nice buffet at breakfast, then back upstairs for a nap! The pace (I know, pitiful me) of so much walking sometimes builds up and we need a bit more rest.

Paris is a different place on Sundays (dimanche). The traffic is a trickle of that during the work week and pedestrians have a better chance of not being run over in the crosswalks.

It’s fairly cold, but a mostly clear day. We haven’t yet been over to the Tuileries, which is a popular destination for Parisians on the weekends. The workers are out putting together the ‘tents’ for fashion week, just inside the Tuileries, on the rue de Rivoli side.

The barrenness of the trees belies the explosion of color that will come in a couple of months when the horse chestnut trees that populate le Jardin come into bloom. As we enter le Jardin, there’s a children’s merry go round; few children there today, but it is operating. Looking down the center pathway towards Place de la Concorde, you see the large ferris wheel at the entrance (this use to be on the side of le Jardin where the ‘tents’ are being erected), and if you look hard, you can see further down the Champs Elysee, towards le Grand Arche. Turn the opposite direction, and you are facing the Louvre while looking through the Louvre Carousel.

There are a few hardy souls sitting in the green chairs around the parterre de eau, but no sailing little boats today. Too windy, too cold. However, there is a solitary swan in the water pond. I don’t ever recall seeing a swan here.

We will cut over to walk past the statue of Jeanne d’Arc , near one corner of the Louvre.

Destination: Angelina.

Angelina is a tea room located in the Rue de Rivoli. It’s SRO for those like us looking for a break from the cold. It’s not a long wait until we are seated and order what we really came for: Chocolate Africain. An extremely dense hot chocolate, accompanied by your own little helping of whipped cream to mix into it. (See first photo). La doloreuese (the painful one, or the bill) is 25.80€ (about $26.00) for two Africain and one pastry. By the time we leave, the waiting line extends through the entry door and outside by a dozen or more people.

On the way back through Place Vendôme, I took a photo of the base of one side of the column after restoration, which was completed sometime in the last 6-8 months.

Walking down Rue de Castiglione, the sidewalk is decorated with mosaics in many places. Few of the businesses that had their names molded into the sidewalk are still there; such is the pace of commerce. Annick Goutal is still in business here.

Photos on Flickr.