Galleries Lafayette

So far it is as if all Parisians speak English, or certainly English that is better than our French.  There has been no rudeness or unpleasantness.  Everybody has been lovely and accommodating.  We are almost afraid to try our poor French but boldly say ‘Bonjour’ on arrival and ‘Merci, Au Revoir’, on departure.  It is after our initial Bonjour that the sales staff switch to English.  We are hoping that our greetings coupled with broad friendly smiles will keep everyone kind, however it is not doing much for our plan to improve our French.

Yesterday we went to Galleries Lafayette, incredulously this was my first visit, but rest assured not my last.  The bus ride there was an unexpected treat, a condensed tour of Paris, we passed through St Germaine, got a glimpse of Notre Dame & the Eifel Tower, rode along the Seine, through the Louvre and on towards L’Opera where we disembarked.

The Galleries Lafayette, 5 story stained glass and steel dome is a masterpiece, the building is punctuated with beautiful artistic detail.  Looking down from the floors above over the cosmetics hall you see each brands’ stand stylishly demarcated with the brand names and logos in black and white.  Being winter time we got to enjoy the Christmas tree.  This year (Christmas 2016) it is pure white, with a matching whimsical Ferris Wheel at the bottom, and cable cars running past it at the higher levels.  Truly breath-taking.

The 7^th floor has a viewing deck perfect for Paris photos. (We tried our best with the photos)

Today we went out to lunch – our first meal out.

We chose a local restaurant, Café St Medard (http://www.lesaintmedard.fr/) which had caught my eye – probably because of the blue and cream wicker chairs visible from the outside, these dispersed among the black and grey fabrics against a backdrop of black art deco parquet walls made for beautiful surroundings to enjoy lunch. Elegant and relaxed.  I had a steak with carrot puree and Salad, and Tim beef tartare (absolutely delicious), we happily washed our meals down with a lovely bottle of wine…When in Paris…

After a lovely prolonged lunch we took a stroll down to the local yarn store, Phildar which I had found on the internet.  We do have two new babies due to added to the family and so I had the perfect excuse to choose some yarn and start crocheting, no time is wasted.