Croissants, Napoleon and Montmartre

This morning Heather and I went to a baking class at Maison de Fleuret’s kitchens in Notre Dame district. There were seven of us in the class and we made croissants, pains au chocolat, and pains aux raisins. It was really good fun from start to finish and our instructor was skilful and very good-natured; she gave us clear instructions and excellent hints and tips. The work area was bright and cool and there was water and coffee available all morning. The other people in the class were an American grandmother, mother and grown-up daughter, and a Dutch father and ten year old daughter, and it was a lovely atmosphere. When we finished we took our pastries and strolled down to the Seine and across to the Île de la Cité and sat on a bench in the Square du Vert-Galant at the very end of the island. Meanwhile James and Ewan had been enjoying their own adventure. They walked to the Montparnasse Tower for an interactive Napoleon experience, where the life of Napoleon was relived through virtual reality headsets complete with flying cannonballs and cavalry charges. They both said that it felt very realistic and was very entertaining. Ewan announced happily that “all the hats were correct!” This referred to his complaint years ago about the TV series of War and Peace; he spotted that army hats were used in the series during a 1810 battle which had not actually been introduced until 1812. James and I were both amused and impressed at Ewan’s precise knowledge of military history! 

James and Ewan then headed to the Place Vendôme to see the column that Napoleon had erected using the bronze from the cannons captured at the Battle of Austerlitz, and then they joined us in the little park on Île de la Cité and we ate the pastries that Heather and I had made, which were excellent if I do say so myself. Light, golden and flaky. 

Our next destination was Montmartre; we travelled there by metro and then walked up the hill to Notre Dame. We had drinks and a leisurely lunch at Clairon des Chausseurs on Place du Tertre. The waiter was very friendly and after having our drinks outside, we moved to the cool(er) and spacious interior for lunch. Place du Tertre was bustling but not as busy as I have seen it, we could saunter around without it feeling too hemmed in. We walked past the beautiful Maison Rose and then James expertly navigated us (using google maps on his phone) down through the streets to Galeries Lafayette. We wanted to visit the rooftop restaurant because it has marvellous views all around Paris. It was pretty hot; 31 degrees - but we had cool drinks and relaxed and chatted. Excellent. 
Back at the Hotel Artus we had showers and a rest before dinner at a wee bistrot just along Rue de Buci. I had a delicious cheese and walnut risotto. We finished this splendid day with after dinner drinks at Café de Flore, once frequented by Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, among other 20th century intellectuals. It was rather warm inside so we sat outdoors in the slowly cooling Paris evening. Just lovely.