A Covid Test and Some Hunting and Gathering

 Bon jour, mes amies.

As I was making my way home, to my delight it began to rain.  Experience has taught me always to carry an umbrella in Europe, so up it went.  The day was warm and the rain gentle.  Lovely. 

Il Giro is having a rest day, so I did not need to hurry back for the stage, but I am enjoying some nice green tea, and soon I'll have apero.  I need to use up those olives.

Overnight Paris experienced a thunderstorm.  I was asleep and my room has a heavy curtain over the window, but I still saw the lightening flash.  I knew what it was, and after a few seconds came the thunder.  A bit of rain fell after a while.

So the streets were wet when I set out.  I strolled along Rue Saint Honore where I easily found the recommended pharmacy.  They are used to foreigners needing the test and were pretty fast and efficient.  I showed my passport and I had to pay, but not as much as I thought I would.  The technician stuck the q tip thing way, way up my nose.  Ugh!  But quick.  There's a hitch though. I got an email from the French Health Department.  I guess my results are ready?  But they won't accept my birthdate, so I'm going to have to go back to the pharmacy tomorrow morning and sort things out.  I'm pretty sure she did not write my birthdate down.

I circled back via my favorite bakery and picked up something for tomorrow's dinner.  I dumped it off and proceeded to Les Halles.  I'd scoped out a big store there that contained many good goodies for presents.  I got myself something, too.

This took a while, but I had plenty of time to stroll around in a leisurely way licking the occasional window and popping into promising shops.  My area abounds with narrow and sometimes twisty streets. so it's really fun to explore down them. 

And I did do something touristy today.  The Eglise de St Eustache is Right there, and I have never visited  it. so I went in today as it was open.  It's a flamboyant Gothic church and very beautiful, but there's a reason why it's not more famous.

There are some things that every visitor to Paris MUST do.  When I came here the first time I visited the Eiffel Tower and took a tour on a bateau mouche.  I would include another experience--Hot Chocolate at Angelina's.  I did this last time when they started staying open for the summer and had the Africane at the original site on the Rue di Rivoli.  It was expensive and the service was iffy, but the chocolate was so rich and gooey it made me feel a bit drunk.  The bottle I got at Galeries La Fayette was not quite like that, but it was close, and I had to eat it with a spoon.

A demain