Missing Sue Already

Early this morning, Auntie Sue left to go back to the U.S.  It was like losing part of our family - we had been together here in Paris for so long.  I always looked to her for security if my mom wasn't around.  Thank dog I still have Aunt Connie.  Aunts are important in raising a dog.

This afternoon we went on a long walk to the river, across Ile St. Louis and to the right bank to a little area in the Marais called Village St. Paul.  There are lots of antique shops, bistros, bookstores and other boutiques that have things that ladies like, such as scarves, purses, and totally unnecessary doodads.  Mom bought a roll of tear-off cotton napkins, sort of like upscale paper towels.  Guess what the name of that shop was!  Apropos, n'est-ce pas?

As we went further along, we encountered this little guy in a doorway.  I was riding in the poussette so he couldn't give me the "petit bonjour," he could only look up at me through my screen and I looked down my nose at him.  He probably thought I was nobility rolling by.

One of Mom's favorite things is street music.  Today we came across a piano player who was playing a tinny piano encased in a wooden box set on rubber tires on the edge of Place de la Contrescarpe.  We were just passing through on our way to another area, but Mom said this is too good to pass up.  She loves serendipitous things and will "stop to smell the roses" when they're right in front of her.  So instead of going on our way, we listened to this grizzled guy in the slouch hat, who was no slouch on the keyboard, play a couple of numbers.  Then she saw that he was selling CD's, so she bought one in order to take the experience home with her.  There was an outdoor cafe across the street where we went to linger longer and have a bite to eat while we listened to Scott Joplin, Charles Trenet, and others, including his own compositions.  As we were finishing, Mom asked the waiter to bring him a beer.  He was just packing up to leave as the beer arrived, so he raised his glass, opened his piano and sat down to play an encore.  His name is Roland Godard, and we liked him.

Yesterday, before Auntie Sue left, we all went to the 10th arrondissement to walk along the Canal St. Martin.  This is a canal that connects the Seine River with Canal l'Ourcq in the north, cutting across four arrondissements.  Mom has been wanting to do this for a long time because it's on the quai of the canal that the Hotel du Nord is located, which is the setting for a 1938 black-and-white film by French director  Marcel Carne.  The female lead was played by Arletty, whose famous line in the film was a raspy "Atmosphere, atmosphere!" as she stood with her lover on the footbridge over the canal.  Hotel du Nord is no longer a hotel, but it is still a restaurant and bar, so Mom just had to have something to eat and a glass of wine in this historic place.  It looks just like it did in 1938, the owners being very careful to retain the classic look, and the bar still has "Atmosphere."

Canal St. Martin has quite a bit of boat traffic - no big barges anymore, but pleasure craft and sight-seeing boats.  These boats have to pass through many locks and swing bridges to get to the end of Canal St. Martin.  There are also streets and pedestrian footbridges that cross the canal.  Some have to be closed off when the boats pass underneath.  The trip from one end of the canal to the other is slow and tedious.  Strolling along the quais is much more pleasant.






I loved this walk because the sniffing was prime!  Lots of people were eating their lunch on the edge of the canal and I checked out a few of them.  Every time I would try to snag a chunk of bread I found, though, Mom would grab it out of my mouth.  No matter how fast I chew, she's always faster!

We were a long way from home at the end of this day and we knew the Metro would be hot and crowded, so we decided to take a taxi.  Mom and the aunties love taxi rides because they get to see so much of the city that way - almost like a little tour.  Well, we had to ask three taxi drivers before we could find one that would take me.  A woman driver volunteered to take us and we were very grateful, so we gave her a tip.  She said that she had three poodles at home, so I guess she was a dog lover, too.