A Loop through the Left Bank

Bon jour, mes amies,
Besides the cigarette smoke, the things I deeply dislike about walking around Paris are the beggars, who are everywhere, and the solicitors who like to cluster around metro stops.  Some of the solicitors are scam artists who ask you to sign petitions and then demand donations.  But today it was the French Red Cross.  I dodged most of them and then blew off the one guy by saying firmly in English, "I'm on vacation!"
On the other hand many of the buildings are beautiful, and the tree-lined boulevards are nice.  I love the smell of the bakeries and the perfume.  If you are allergic to perfume, maybe Paris isn't your city unless you can avoid the streets and the metro.  I take opportunities to squirt myself with scent, so I can waft right along.
I did some grocery shopping and visited the fancy cheese shop.  Results later.  If you want to follow my route on the Left Bank Loop, I began at Place d'Italie and walked toward the Seine on Rue des Gobelins, which changes its name to Rue Monge.  I stopped in at the Arena de Lutece--the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre.  Romans despised human sacrifice, but blood and death in the arena was ok. Go figure.  I proceeded down to Boulevard St. Germain and turned left and crossed Boulevard St. Michel and kept going.  Of course all this time I was licking windows, ignoring beggars, and evading solicitors.
I was in the mood for more churches, so I landed at St. Germain des Pres, an abbey church dedicated to the first Bishop of Paris and the only remaining Romanesque church in Paris. When founded it stood in the countryside on the southern bank of the river.  It's a beautiful church with its solid, yet graceful aisles and vaulting, the colored piers and frescoed walls.  It has the dusty old stone smell as well.
Then I walked up to St. Suplice, which once was a tourist mecca for its (spurious) appearance in the Da Vinci Code.  When I walked in I thought that compared to St. Germain this was a big barn of a building.  It's Late Baroque/Neo Classical--magnificent to be sure, but less appealing to me.  I was impressed though that it is a living church.  Mass was being celebrated in one of the chapels off the ambulatory.  If you like the work of Eugene Delacroix, you will find two of his frescoes in the first chapel on the right.  He's not known for religious works, but these paintings seemed pious as well as skilled to me.
My next stop was the Luxembourg Gardens for some refreshing greenery.  The palace now holding government offices was built to please Marie de Medici, Henry IV's queen and it and the enchanting gardens have a definite Italianate flavor.  It's a great place to stroll or relax if you can find a place where people aren't smoking.  There are cafes, a pond where children can rent and sail boats, puppet shows, and the occasional band concert.
There was also, although I didn't realize what the commotion was about until I got home and saw some news, a noisy demonstration by French Farmers and their supporters, but I don't understand the issue.
I walked through the gardens to the very top and then turned left on Boulevard Port Royal where I was accosted.  At first I was annoyed--not again!  But, no, these folk were innocent travelers like myself and needed directions to the Luxembourg.  That I could do.  I whipped out my map and showed them.  And then footsore and weary by then I walked down Port Royal until it ran into Boulevard des Gobelins and turned up hill for home.
I have declared today Norman Heritage Day--only without all that conquering because that's so Eleventh Century, you know.  Instead the focus will be on food and drink.  We Normans love the aperitivo and have our own called Pommeau.  It has a hearty apple flavor as well it might because it's made from both cider and Calvados.  Sip slowly and not too much!  But boy is it tasty.
Now for a tasting of three Norman cheeses--raw cows milk--from the fancy fromageries.  I always trim off the rind, but some people like rind.  I have slices of baguette to serve.  We start with Pont L'Eveque, the mildest as is the custom.  OOH.  It's mild and buttery but with a definite cheese taste but with a creamy texture.  Very nice indeed.  I think I'll have some more.
With the cheese I am drinking Norman cider.  It's corked and bubbly like sparkling wine. It's not at all sweet, but tastes of apples.
We pass on to Camenbert one of the best known of French cheeses and widely available--only much of which is widely available is industrial cheese.  We are getting into stinky territory here.  Camenbert has been described as smelling like the feet of God.  My cheese guy patted it before he sold it to me to make sure it was ripe.  The taste is rich and lovely.  You won't find raw milk Camenbert in the United States, and what a shame because it's fabulous with all that Camenbert flavor but without the ammonia sort of edge.
The last and the strongest is my favorite.  Livarot is the apotheosis of cheese in my view.  It has a definite aroma, the lush, creamy texture, and a complex taste, not really strong, but very distinctive.  One can tell the milk has been worked on so to speak.  But I have never seen Livarot in the United States, and I fear if you do come across it, it will be an inferior version.  En fin.  You'd better come to France.
A demain