July Weather Has Arrived At Last in Paris
Bonjour,
Refreshed and rested, I’m back on the blog. I miss it terribly because it’s my way of staying connected, and we love seeing your comments. Finally, July weather is upon us with gorgeous blue skies and temps in the mid 80’s. Our fans are up and running for the first time.
I slept for 10 hours on Sunday evening which was the rejuvenation I needed. What an amazing difference. Monday is a slow day in Paris as many of the shops and restaurants are closed after a long busy weekend. There is less traffic (though there’s really not that much this year in Paris) and less noise to disturb a deep sleep in the early morning. Bernie was right behind me with about 9 hours. Alas, age does make a difference which we’re discovering this time.
Much of the day was spent on laundry which is my nemesis here. Though we have a washing machine in the apartment, it is very small and we don’t have a dryer. What we do have is a new Laverie about 5 blocks up the street. Our old one which we could see from our window closed 3 years ago. I must say that the new one is so clean and well organized that I don’t mind the trek unless it’s raining. We did five loads and then threw everything into the huge commercial dryer. All in all, it took about four hours. There’s still one bed to strip and some of Bernie’s jeans and slacks left to wash, but we got a good head start.
I fight a losing battle on the cleaning here as there’s a fine black dust from car exhaust which settles on everything, but I gave it my best shot yesterday. Sounds pretty gross but you learn to live with it!
Most of my shopping is on the street as that’s what I chose to afford. Found a cute new outfit.
The fashion this year for women is either very long skirts and dresses or very short shorts. Guess which I picked? Along the way, I encountered a very old toilet with a pull chain in one of the cafés. I had warned Carson about these but we never saw one while he was here. 
About 3 o’clock we headed out for the BHV (Bazaar of the Hotel de Ville), the large department store in the Marais. We were in search of some water-proof tape, some cheap white earrings for me as I lost mine out on the street, and a new pillow for Bernie. We were successful on the first two, but oh-là-là, the pillows started around 85 euros all the way up to 300 or 400 euros! That was a shock because we’ve never pillow-shopped before here. Checked around a few other places we thought would be less expensive like Paris Discount (kind of like a TJ Maxx) but never found anything. Living here all the time would be very expensive.
We enjoyed a small salmon salad in the apartment and then a lovely stroll in the evening across the river to Ile St. Louis. Between the Right Bank and the Left Bank sit the two islands of Paris which make up some of the oldest. I’ll caption our stroll. 
We’re looking at another beautiful day and thinking through how we’d like to spend it. It’s such a tough life here…ha!
À toute à l’heure
L & B
July 20, 2021 @ 11:00 am
You two are deserving of that nice long rest as you went above and beyond hosting Natalie, Carson, and Emily! Reading about your journey on their last day made my feet hurt! I hope Bernie enjoyed the finish of La Tour on Sunday. Your new outfit is very chic and looks great on you! Love the idea of the “beach” in Paris.
July 20, 2021 @ 1:14 pm
Oh-là-là, I totally forgot to mention that we didn’t get to see the Le Tour de France. There was a miscommunication between Bernie and the security guard on Avenue George Cinq. He thought the man told him that everything was closed to spectators. Actually, just the spot where we were was closed off. We could have walked up about two blocks and gotten in. We watched with dismay on our television at all the cheering crowd. We have been many times before and I will post some of the older pics I have in my photo repertoire.
July 20, 2021 @ 11:28 am
Enjoyed your post on a beautiful day in Paris 🥰
July 20, 2021 @ 11:35 am
We missed you, but were happy that you got some time to recover. Believe me, we understand getting tired more easily! For each day of activity or company, it takes us a full day to recover. We always love the photographs and the interesting things you teach us about Paris. Thanks for sharing!
July 20, 2021 @ 12:47 pm
Love your blog. Feel like I am there!
Nancy
July 20, 2021 @ 1:08 pm
Love your new outfit! It’s good to see your photo sporting a lovely new outfit and a rested you. Laundry is always a challenge in your circumstances but happily rain held off. Photos of Parisian buildings and people enjoying life are always fun to view.
July 20, 2021 @ 1:16 pm
Neat to share different kinds of lovers.
July 20, 2021 @ 1:55 pm
Just what I need to read on a rainy day here! Beautiful pictures!
July 20, 2021 @ 2:18 pm
Wonderful that you are back to your usual routine, even with all the laundry! I hope the beautiful weather holds for you and for us when we get there!
July 20, 2021 @ 2:21 pm
Looks like a great day! Glad the summer weather arrived.
July 20, 2021 @ 2:48 pm
The new outfit is definitely you. Love it. I might borrow it one day?😏
I clocked 12,000 steps yesterday. Would have been more, but had to postpone a waterfall trek. Drizzle and clouds today- our first. Good day to launder and rest, as you wisely do.
Love those evening strolls.
July 20, 2021 @ 6:45 pm
Hope you two find lots of time to cruise the river or lay on the beach.
July 21, 2021 @ 4:04 am
My first encounter with one of those toilets was in a flat in Linz, Austria. The two ladies I was a guest of had driven out into the countryside to visit relatives, so I’d received no warning. Those things would flush a stump. Even more surprising was the kitchen sink, with its on-demand water heater, which fired into action with a loud “swoosh.” I got to meet the owner of the flat, Herr Doktor Schönfelder, who had a new house on the mountain overlooking the city. Years later, I saw a Vanagon in, of all places, Cades Cove in the Smokys with an Austrian sticker and wandered over to introduce myself. The owner was shocked. They were from Linz and the good doktor had been his geography prof. At the time, we had a German exchange student. Witnessing this, he became even more convinced we knew everyone on Earth. On dogs in restaurants, my daughter and her husband keep their Great Dane in their restaurant in Pralognan la Vanoise…
July 21, 2021 @ 7:31 am
Earl, isn’t travel wonderful? It’s most definitely a small world and getting smaller.