Day Four: Getting Out in Paris

Yesterday morning, I decided to explore a bit, so after finishing the chocolate biscuits from the previous day's gouter, going for a run, and showering, I set off towards the Seine.  I had planned to sit down along the Seine to do some work, but it continued to be a bit chilly, so I just walked instead -- across the Pont du Carouselle and into the courtyard of the Louvre, then back to the Left Bank and along the Seine for a ways.

Eventually the chill caught up with me and I popped into a cafe for a cafe express (I hardly ever drink coffee, but here it's just so much of the culture, I had to!) and croissant (oh such buttery goodness!).  I sat there eating and working for a while, then strolled back to the apartment for a simple lunch of bread, cheese, charcuteries, and melon:

In the afternoon, I went to my office and worked for several more hours to finish and submit both papers that I had been working on (for submission to SIGCSE-15, a major computer science education conference).  To celebrate, I decided to explore a bit more, and hopped on the Metro to Pere LaChaise, following one of the walking tours in the Explore Paris Insight Guide.  The cemetery itself was closed (pity), but I walked through the (steep!) park alongside the northern edge of the cemetery, then northwards through the 20th and 19th arrondissements, with a mix of parks, middle-class and working-class neighborhoods.

I stopped at a small cafe across from the Parc de Belleville, ordered wine, and tried to order dinner, but they explained that the kitchen didn't open until 8pm (it was about 7:15, which I thought was late enough to have dinner, even in Paris).  Ah well.  Instead, I finished the wine, walked down to the Pyrenees station, and returned to Odeon (two stops away from my apartment).  I had seen a couple of Japanese restaurants and thought I'd check them out, which turned out to be a good call!  I went into Sushi House on Rue Dauphine and ordered a bento maison: miso soup, salad (sort of an Asian cole slaw), sushi, sashimi, maki, tempura, and skewers.  Super-yummy and very satisfying on a cool Parisian evening!  (But not so cool that I could resist temptation:  on the walk back, I stopped for a hazelnut chocolate gelato at one of the many yummy-looking ice cream shops in the neighborhood...)