Window Licking Monday

Today started out bright and early: up at 7:15, met Ann for breakfast at 8:15 and said good bye as her cab whisked her off to the Gare du Nord to take the Eurostar back to London and finally to Truro, in Cornwall.

My next stop was to the pharmacy for a Covid antigen test. I had never been tested before so I was pleasantly surprised that it was a mainly painless experience. I was to return to get the results.

The two ladies who work in the pharmacy were exceedingly pleasant. They asked me about California, mentioning that it must be warm there. That’s the most common comment that I get. I said it’s a bit warmer but we’re very concerned about the drought and desperately need rain. They’ve heard about the rains and the fires.

Now to the post office. I love the French post office. There are wonderful boxes for you to load up all your treasures, or maybe even old unwanted clothes to ship back to the US so you’re not a beast of burden on the day of your flight. I have done this several times and have always felt it was worth the cost (59€ for the XL sleek Italian-designed Collisimo green box). There have been times when the box arrived home before I did – not this time, of course. The postman helped me with the entire procedure and the only hiccup was that he didn’t have online access to customs so I had to fill out three paper forms. No biggie. I told him how much I enjoyed coming to the post office and enjoyed his help. He actually blushed. Maybe postal employees are not used to getting compliments.

Back to the pharmacy. I tested negative – hooray! – and got the necessary forms needed by Air France to get me on the airplane.

It was almost noon but I knew that the cleaning lady was still working on the apartment, so I decided a decaf cappuccino was in order at the corner café.

The last few days have been quite active; in fact, Ann and I logged in over eight miles yesterday and between seven and eight most days. We were also on art overload, though the Hockney show was much less exhausting as the Russian show at the Louis Vuitton or the Orsay. I felt I needed to do a little slo-mo today and stick to the neighborhood.

And what a neighborhood it is. It’s very close to the two big department stores, Au Printemps and Galéries Lafayette, started during the turn of the century. The architecture and windows always fascinated me and reminded me of going to the Emporium in San Francisco every Christmas for Christmas visiting, shoppinf and gazing at the beautiful displays.

The French expression, faire du lèche-vitrine means to go window shopping. It literally means to go window licking, which totally grossed me out when I first learned of it. I decided to stroll the ‘ hood and go window shopping. Both stores have domes which are also quite spectacular.

The dome at the Printemps has what appears to be an art deco eating establishment.

It’s difficult to capture the entire dome in its completed form so I had to photograph bits and pieces.

On to Galéries Lafayette next door. Actually both stores are composed of several buildings but the dome is clearly marked or one of the ever-present beautifully dressed employees will direct you to the right spot.

The dome is used as a focal point on the third floor.

There were other delights in the gourmet shop at Galéries Lafayette:

Getting hungry? I wandered over to the Café de la Paix for some sustenance. Ended up with a delicious chicken Caesar salad with an egg in it. I was tempted to just get a millefeuille but I had pancakes for breakfast and needed a bit of nutrition .

The lunch was substantial so I took my dessert home!

Tomorrow is my last day. What will I do? You’ll find out after I do.