Return to Paris

July 6th

We arrived in the late afternoon at our nice AirBnB apartment near the Louvre.  There is a lot of activity in the area but we are in a very quiet courtyard so you would never know you're in the middle of a bustling city. 

 

Walking around we discovered a few new sights which I'm sure you could do every day in Paris. We were heading toward Leon of Bruxelles near Les Halles to make a dinner reservation when we came upon L'Eglise Saint-Eustache.  A massive structure that I can't believe we hadn't seen before. It was a modest chapel built in 1213 as a parish church, dedicated to Saint-Eustache. The first stone of the current church was laid on August 19, 1532, under Francis I but the construction lasted more than a century.  In the 1990s the organ was restored so Saint-Eustache now has one of the most important instruments in France.  On Sundays they have an organ concert at 5pm so we are hoping to pop in for a listen tomorrow.

Another fascinating building we walked past is the Bourse de Commerce (Commodities Exchange) which was originally used as a place to negotiate the trade of grain and other commodities.  Now it displays the art collection of the Pinault family.  Francois Pinault was a French businessman, billionaire actually, who began in the timber industry but shifted to luxury and fashion.  Apparently that was where the money was to be made.

Architecture and Fashion

How did they get the stones up there?

We walked by one of the beautiful covered passages and stopped for an aperitif just down the street from our apartment before having dinner at Leon de Bruxelles.  There are several locations of this restaurant that serves delicious mussels in a variety of sauces.  We always hit a Leon's at least once while in Paris.  No reservations are usually needed but we walked by and they are always appreciative of having a reservation made.