Our next morning, we had some shopping plans. We started out at the Les Halles metro stop, and managed to get completely turned around. Which ended up being a happy accident, as we ended up at the Centre Pompidou, which has a really neat fountain installation in its courtyard.
Mistake corrected, we headed into the Marais (which I need to go back and explore more someday), and stopped at E. Dehillerin, which was apparently where Julia Child bought her cookware, and G. Detou, where we went a little crazy buying things like mustard. (Yeah, mustard.)
Our next stop was the Passage des Panoramas, one of the covered passage ways you can find in Paris. This one had a lot of restaurants, so we ate at a creperie for lunch. Across the main road was another passageway with stores. I may have made some purchases at a candy store and a toy store.
Shopping done, we headed down toward the Seine by way of the Tuileries Garden, which was absolutely lovely. And from there, we headed to a Seine cruise.
A cruise is a really lovely way to see the city. If you can get beyond your really obnoxious fellow tourists. Seriously. Why take a Seine cruise if you’re going to just stand there looking at the sights entirely through your camera lens? But that withstanding, it is really amazing how much life is going on along the river. It’s completely different than I thought it would be, and yet exactly what I expected.