Since there were so many patisseries in the neighborhood, we decided to try a different one for the morning’s croissants. Nick’s choice was chocolate, while I chose almond filled.

Our destination for the day was the Cluny Museum, also called the National Museum of the Middle Ages. Nick was pleased that unlike the Marmottan Museum, the Cluny allows photos to be taken.  As for me, I was immediately taken by the progression from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance through art, including stained glass and wood sculptures.

The museum’s main claim to fame is its tapestries. Created by an anonymous designer and woven  before 1500 AD, each tapestry features “The Lady and the Unicorn” as the lady teaches the unicorn about the senses of taste, hearing, sight, smell,  and touch. The final tapestry is called “To My Sole Desire.” The “sole desire” is up to each viewer to decide.

Our guide book suggested finding a place for lunch in the Sorbonne area, where we enjoyed sitting among college students who were on a “coffee break.” We shared a Salade Nicoise with a crepe au chocolat for dessert. Then we decided to walk to the Pantheon which was nearby. This building contains memorials to the struggles of the French throughout their history. The underground crypt is the burial site of Louis Braille, Victor Hugo, and Marie Sklodowska, aka Madame Curie, after whom my junior high school was named.

Nick was fascinated by Foucault’s Pendulum, something familiar to a physics major like him, but not to an early childhood education major like me. In 1851, a scientist named Foucault demonstrated the rotation of the earth with the creation of the pendulum that now bears his name.

It was time for ice cream. Nick found out that there was a Grom gelateria nearby. I chose pistachio and peach, while Nick’s selections were chocolate and something else. Truth be told, I was too busy enjoying my gelato to focus on his second flavor choice.  As we walked, we felt the vibrancy of the neighborhood, with locals enjoying a meal, a snack or a drink at one of the many sidewalk cafes.

We returned to the apartment in time for the arrival of its next guest, a lovely young woman who, fortunately, spoke perfect English. She had dinner plans, so we decided to return to Simone ourselves. There we both ordered the fish dish that I so enjoyed  the night before, and it was just as delicious the second time.  For dessert, we shared a poached peach. This was our final meal in Paris. We were leaving for Lisbon the following day.

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