4-07-2010

7-04-2010
Originally uploaded by cspatrick

Our goal for the day was to take in the market on Convention Street, which is very near our apartment. We started west and ogled the market stalls which were filled with fish, poultry, horse meat, pork, fresh fruits, vegetables, sausages, cheese, shirts, pants, shoes, bras, cookware, furniture, jewelry, purses, jackets, cooked food, and sundry other items. The market booths lined the sidewalk in front of the shops, most of which were closed. Roger had set another goal of walking all the way to the river, so when we ran out of the market area, we just kept on going. When we reached the river, I looked to my right and saw M. Eiffel’s monstrosity, which appeared to be only 4-5 blocks away. I couldn’t resist, so we struck out walking. Of course it was much further than 4-5 blocks – probably half a mile. But we persisted and arrived at the Champs du Mars along with all the other tourists after a brief stop for water. We are going to have to learn to carry water when we leave the apartment. We did not go up – the lines were very long; besides, this was not our goal. Roger informed me that we had walked the two legs of the triangle, so we took the hypotenuse back as best we could. There are definitely shorter routes between our apartment and the Eiffel Tower, and definitely better days to go than a Sunday afternoon in July.