Day 9 in Paris

Tuesday September 30, 2025. The last day of the month, our penultimate day in Paris, a day of small disappointments, but a day we were happy to be here enjoying life.

The morning began sunny but chilly although word on the street is warmer temps are on their way. We had a leisurely breakfast (fairly typical by now) before setting out. We had timed tickets for the Georges De La Tour exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André but wanted to scoot back to the former Pascal Pinaud's pastry shop in the 5th so Susie could ask what happened to Pascal. 

So we took the 8 Metro to Bastille, switched to no. 5 and got off in our old 2006/2007 neighborhood at the Saint Marcel stop. We strolled passed our apartment building on rue Poliveau and across the small square that was a daily sight for us for so many months; and very little had changed in the intervening years. The café in the ground floor of our building was still there, the fresh produce stand across the street was still there and even the hair salon on one of the corners was still there, although the name had changed.  

our apartment building with six flights of steps

our apartment top floor where the railing is

Square Poliveau

our building from 2006-2007

fresh food stand from our past

From there we walked up rue Fer du Moulin to rue Monge, past Maison Landemaine, a very well-known pastry shop which we were pleased to see is also still in business. But then again so was the Starbucks across the street. We walked up rue Monge  passing Place Monge to arrive at Pascal's pastry shop where we learned that Pascal had indeed retired (Susan thought as much) and now lives in the Vendée. We did walk out with an oranais aux abricots, which we savored on our way to the Metro.

Place Monge

We took the line 7 from Place Monge to the Chaussée d'Antin La Fayette stop where, after turning ourselves around briefly, we transferred to the no. 9 and got off at Miromesnil. From there it was a short walk to Boulevard Haussmann (yes, THAT Haussmann) and on to the museum. Fortunately we had timed tickets and as a result had a short wait to get in; those without tickets, a separate line as is typical in Paris it seems, had a wait of as much as an hour or two.

queueing up

carriageway

the old carriageway to the courtyard and main entrance

courtyard and entrance on the backside of the home

looking down into the Music Room

Once we passed through what passes for security these days we made our way to the main house. The museum is worth a visit for the house and its contents which include some wonderful pieces of art and decorative pieces from the 15th-18th centuries. This time we got to see a wonderful Greuze and a lovely portrait by Vigée Lebrun.

We had been here once before to see a superb Mary Cassatt exhibition back in 2018 and the interpretive signage for the exhibition was only in French then; exhibitions here are still only in French apparently. The exhibition spaces were crowded and people were cheek-by-jowl in pretty small rooms. Overall we were disappointed in the artwork, although several pieces were striking, particularly the "Woman catching a flea" (1638).

Finished with the exhibition, we made our way to the museum's Café Nelie, named presumably after Nelie Jacquemart madame André who once walked these very halls. The café was packed and we had to wait probably 15 or 20 minutes before being seated outside on the terrace. The food was disappointing: Susan had a bland Caesar Salad and I had something that was reportedly a veggie risotto which was  devoid of any flavor and lacking in the usual richness of a risotto. But the service was friendly, and the wine, a wonderful Chablis, very good. 

From the museum we made our way back to the Metro line 9 and switched to the no. 6 at the Trocadero. We went two stops to Bir-Hakeim where we got off and sauntered over to the Seine. 

Bir-Hakeim

Our plan was to stroll around the Eiffel Tower and make our way back to the 8 at École Militaire. Which we did.

the no. 6 Metro line 

a walk along the Seine

relaxing along the Seine

boarding the boats for a tour of the Seine

across the Seine to the Trocadero in the distance (the Palais Chaillot)

From under one tower to another; Montparnasse in the distance

Along the way we passed hordes of like-minded folks, locals and tourists alike, out enjoying the Champ du Mars. We were rather surprised to discover that one needed to go through a entrance just to get into the space beneath the tower. But it didn't concern us so we moved on, putting the crowds behind us. In fact the farther we walked away from the tower the fewer people we encountered.

Along the way we did come across a fascinating sculpture group by Ivan Theimer. Titled the "Monument to the Rights of Man and Citizen" it was installed in 1989 and is a lovely collection of larger-than-life statues with bits and pieces of ceramic pieces scattered around and embedded in the walls of a small stone building. Lots of things to see here so I urge you to take a look a bit deeper.

Leaving the Champ de Mars we found ourselves at a major series of intersections and were at first a bit flummoxed as to where exactly the Metro was. But Susan spied it hiding behind a group of trees. We took the 8 all the way to Ledru-Rollin. Once above ground we stopped at Blé Sucré for a hot beverage (coffee) and pastry. I had a chocolate eclair this time and Susie had a lemon tart. We both concluded that these people know their stuff.

After sitting and chatting and enjoying the moment we said au revoir to the staff and walked the two or three blocks to our apartment. Once inside we discovered that the hot water was indeed hot and assumed this time it would stay that way.

Out for dinner. We decided to return to the place where we had our first meal in the neighborhood, Parisii. Located just on the other side of the indoor market from our apartment, it's a favorite haunt for the locals. 

The service was smooth, attentive and vey friendly. We split a 500 ml carafe of Brouilly over a meal that started with a French classic eggs and mayonnaise followed by Cod on a bed of mashed potatoes for Susie and, tipping the hat to Paul Christopher, I had a double smash burger with the requisite fries. The food was very good, and we felt it was a good way to say adieu to Place d'Aligre.

I leave you with this short 30-second clip showing how the folks in this part of Paris "eat out." They don't. They go out to be together, to drink together, to share food together, to BE. Just like us; we love just being in Paris.

Tomorrow we (meaning Susan) will pack our things and get us ready for our Uber pick up at 12 noon. We spend our last night at a hotel at the airport, repeating what we did this past spring in fact. It makes for a much less stressful day of flying when you have an early morning flight (which we do) on Thursday.