All cathedrals fascinate me but St Eustasche in the second arrondissement of Paris always has me walking about it, inside and out, looking around and up amazed at the work that has lasted for centuries by people who created by hand and who probably had no idea that their work would be admired all these years later.

 It’s as impressive as Notre Dame is to me, probably because the viewer is able to see it whole from a distance, not just below where it appears squeezed in by modern buildings. Les Halles, the unfortunate mall here, is underground, thank God.

 Here is is framed by some garden trellacing.

 Here is an enormous sundial on one side. There are two more smaller ones on another side. As you can see, it was about 2 in the afternoon.

A nearby fountain sparking in the sun.

 This trip took us into Brittany, a part of France on the Atlantic coast, although we never did see any of the ocean. I had hoped to make a quick trip to St Malo, a city on the ocean, but will have to save that for next time. We went to the city of Rennes which turned out to be delightful, as are most places in France. And, like most cities in France and Europe for that matter, it had an old city which was very interesting to tour. I never did find the tourist information center and I understand that there was a phone number I could have called on my cell phone that would have given me an audio tour, but I still loved what I saw.

Lots more half timbered buildings. This was one of the oldest. There was a horrible fire in the 1700’s which wiped out most of the city and I was wondering what was lost then.

 Many regions of France have their own traditional costumes. I’ve seen those tall hats on women in a few parades but not in Rennes.

 It’s hard to find a church in France without a statue of Joan of Arc. This was one of the more unique ones, I thought.

I’m always surprised to come upon modern art in ancient cathedrals. This is Christ, I think. Very different. It was in the same church that had a wonderful Flemish carving from the 1500’s.

 One more half timbered building. There were many of these, usually with a bar or a restaurant in them. There were several large squares all lined with bars and students filled them at night. We went looking for a place to eat for dinner and Maurice didn’t want to be in a tourist trap so we ended up down below on the edge of the old city. I was thinking we would have seafood, being so near the ocean and all, but we ended up at a Mexican restaurant. The fajitas were a little strange but tasty and tender and they had really great margaritas-for France-and I had two. Haven’t had one since I was last in Texas.

 I am doing my own little Tour de France but not on a bicycle. Maurice has to work-he is helping his son install some sort of computer systems-and I am tagging along exploring the cities he has to visit. Auxerre was my first. We just returned from Besancon(the birth place of Victor Hugo, by the way) which turned out to be really incredible. It is a short way from Dijon in Burgundy country. The city looks like it was once very prosperous with rich buildings everywhere and it still looks prosperous to my eyes. I’m glad they preserved the old city as I really enjoyed walking around. On the second day I rented a car to make my way out into the country to see the Saline Royal, a very interesting architectural wonder which was built to process salt out of nearby marshes.

 Many of the roofs in the Burgundy region have interesting tile work

 Most of the churches have distinctive roofs on their towers

 This church had a huge clock in a tiny room with dials covering it telling the time all over the world. It also told lunar times, horoscope time, and one dial that only moved once every 400 years. It has to be wond every day with an enormous handle. On top there was a section that moved on the hour, with the 12 disciples of Christ turning in a circle and Christ blessing everyone. The best part, right under Mary at to very top-the queen of the world-was a tomb guarded by two soldiers. when the clock chimbed, the tomb open and up popped Christ. A really impressive piece of work from the 1800’s.

Here is the main house at the Saline Royal which was very impressive. It was part of a complex, very beautiful, built in a half circle, a symbol of the arc of heaven. The owner envisioned a perfect city, as many have in times past, with the saline “factory” being the center. As most utopias, it didn’t work but it certainly is beautiful.

 A closeup of the columns on this beautiful day.

 One of the nice things to be found in markets is flowers. Parisians buy them by the arm loads to take home since most don’t have gardens. They are always a feast for the eyes.

 They are hard to pass up when they look so inviting

The lovely choice by one customer

 I love anemonies. They are such happy flowers. Note to self:plant the bulbs for anemonies next fall.

 Hard to beat roses

 This lady looked rather like a bouquet herself. I liked her boots and textured stockings. Pretty dressed up for food shopping.

 A few photos of fruits and vegetables seen in Place d’Aligre one Saturday.

Blood oranges-I’ve never tried them

 These grapes looked really good to me but Maurice talked me out of them-he’s always right about the taste of things.

 You can tell Spring is coming when you see daffodils for sale on the streets. We went and got our own one year. It was very easy as they were growing wild everywhere in a nearby forest but it was very wet and muddy.

 These look like mums of some sort but they are actually a type of radicchio.

I’ve never seen lettuce like this before. Isn’t it pretty?

 On an absolutely beautiful Saturday morning we headed off to get something for a computer at a (to me) totally boring store which left us near Place d’Aligre, one of my favorite street markets. It is one of the more lively and interesting markets in Paris and one of the first ones I ever visited with Maurice so there are always good memories when I return. Before we set out shopping we stopped for a light lunch at le Baron Bouge, a funky little bar in the neighborhood which sells wine by the bottle from casks. Lots of fun to visit. No real meals but plates of cheese or chacuterrie-sausage, etc.

The cute sign out front

Belly up to the bar boys

 They sell wine to take home in bottles from these barrels.

 Filling up a bottle for a customer to take home

Instead of a glass a piece we got a carafe for only 6 euros, a little too much wine for lunch for me but so much fun.