Day 3
Wednesday September 9

Agnès was working on another very important assignment for her job. After she left for her office, the three of us opted to go to the Picasso Museum, which had recently reopened after many years. We had no idea how prolific Picasso had been before we went to the museum! Jose-Maria had to leave early, but we lingered. It was warm enough to eat on the terrace. We shared a ham and cheese sandwich with pesto on a fabulously fresh baguette. This sounds simple, and it was simply delicious. For dessert we shared raspberry, strawberry and chocolate macaron cookies. French macaron cookies are nothing like American macaroon cookies. They don’t contain coconut. They are made of almond flour in different colors, sandwiched together with a variety of delightful fillings. Nick said I should get the recipe and add it to my cookie repertoire.

Our energy restored, we decided to go to the Carnavalet Museum. This museum was featured in the travel section of the New York Times on September 27, suggesting places to see on the right bank of Paris. The article directs visitors to head up to the second floor of the museum to the Revolution section. Unfortunately, the second floor is currently closed for renovations. Much to Nick’s disappointment, we had to accept that there were a variety of reasons why it could be impossible to see or do something on his Wish List. On the other hand, the Museum itself is housed in a mansion that focuses on French history. The art was delightful, and it was a lovely place to be on an afternoon in Paris.

Next, after stopping in at St. Paul’s Church, we walked to the Holocaust Memorial. How could there have been so much hatred of Jews by people whose savior was Jewish?

I mentioned that J-M had left us earlier in the day because he had things to do for that evening. This was Agnès’ birthday, and J-M was preparing a surprise. Their children, and Agnes’ sister and her husband, were coming over for dinner, and J-M was preparing the dinner himself. We took the metro to Rue des Gobelins and walked to an Italian shop on Rue Mouffetard. We asked the clerk for something that could be eaten with wine before dinner. Of course, everything in the shop could be eaten with wine before dinner! We selected artichokes, stuffed olives, and Italian ham.

The dinner party was an experience Nick and I will never forget. We have met the three children of J-M and Agnès many times individually, but never all together. They are in their thirties now! It was also fun to meet Agnès’ sister Martine and her husband François. I asked them if they had traveled to the U.S. They had been to Miami, the Florida Keys, the Grand Canyon, several national parks, and their favorite was Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I so admired them for undertaking such trips!

Agnès was so happy to be surrounded by her family, and Nick and I were thrilled to be “part of the family.” We all toasted Agnès, and her reply was to offer a toast to Nick and me and our next visit to Paris!

The number of steps for the day would be anticlimactic. However, the pedometer was lost, so we didn’t know how many steps we had taken.