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Dear Andrea,

Well, the trip was a success. I may have to buy a new pair of shoes, as we covered most every “very Paris” spot in Paris’ Latin Quarter, Louvre, Palais-Royal, Opera, bas-de-Montmartre and Montmartre districts. We didn’t once take the metro, so Shempa and Shekhar could very clearly see how the city changed from quarter to quarter, as well as getting a good feel of the rise and the fall of the land we covered. Invigorating for a hiker!

I got to the Hotel Sunday morning a bit ahead of time, and found a chair in the lobby to read the paper. Not two minutes seated I recognized Shekhar (thanks to the photos you sent) passing from the downstairs breakfast room – we said hello and his wife Shampa appeared right after. They went to their room to get all that they needed and then we set off for the day.

Our visit began almost right outside their door in front of the hulking building of the Anatomical amphitheatre of Paris’ former Faculty of Medicine – I had just visited it on my last promenade so it still was fresh in my memory. I’ll try not to get too much detail as we go along.

We took a roundabout way to the root of the rue Mouffetard (where it meets the avenue Gobelins) and made our way north from there. The marketplace around the Saint-Médard church was very animated with the stalls and stands of fruit and vegetable mongers, and on our path up the street we were treated to the smell of roast chicken spinning on the spits in front of the butcher shops along the way. We stopped to buy a croissant then moved to an outdoor café to enjoy the scenery – we took the occasion to get better acquainted. We had a lot of ground to cover that day so we moved on to have a look at the cheese and wine shops and then moved on.

Our next stop for that day was not really a stop, but taking a big bite out of my next promenade. I was going to start if from the musée de Cluny (from the north), but we took it from the south from along our rue Mouffetard-turned-rue Montaigne-Sainte-Genevieve route, seeing quite a few interesting nooks along the way. We then headed for the Cluny Medieval Museum for a short tour – the ancient Roman baths were a good follow-up to Paris’ Roman past I had explained earlier. I really like that museum for its medieval stonework, and especially the carved funeral slabs that once graced the floor of churches. We of course went upstairs was the “La Dame ˆ la Licorne”, then we headed out into the streets again… we walked across the river to lunch at “Dame Tartine” near the Les Halles district’s Centre Georges Pompidou.

We had a walk around the Marais, then spent the afternoon at the nearby Musée Carnavalet “history of Paris” museum. I wanted to begin with the earliest period possible, and this was with the 2500 –year old dugout canoes discovered in the banks of Paris’ Seine river – but from there we ended going through the periods without any particular order. My favourite is the mid-19th century to Belle ƒpoque.

The museum closed at six and we were too early for dinner, so we went to the nearby “Dôme” café for a little refreshment. I pointed out the “vin chaud” drink to Shampa – hot wine with cinnamon and orange – and she thought she’d try it, and ended up liking it very much. We chatted for a while in gandering all the fashion people (one in particular was a bit odd, seated alone and wearing what looked to be a tiara), then headed out to grab a cab to dinner. You know me and history – the Saint-Paul church was right across the street, so I took Shampa and Shekhar over for a look. Actually we ended up walking across the river to the Rive Gauche and caught a taxi there. Then it was off to dinner at “La Coupole.”

The La Coupole bistro was very full that evening, as it is a popular Sunday dinner spot for the more bourgeois Parisian families. I asked for a table towards the centre of the huge art-deco hall so that Shampa and Shekhar could better admire the view, and we followed our black-vested waiter to a spot almost under the central dome. I of course ordered the oyster platter that is a Montparnasse specialty, and we spent almost an hour at that alone. Shekhar and I tried the venison (it was hunting season) and Shampa took a chicken plate. Dinner was very enjoyable and we didn’t leave until well towards midnight. I accompanied them back to their hotel, and on the way we decided to meet at the hotel at nine the next morning. From there I walked home as I only live a few blocks away.

We began by taking another couple bites out of my next promenade, again around the Montaigne-Sainte-Genevieve region, and lighted upon the Pantheon; we ended up going in although I hadn’t foreseen this visit ahead of time. There was quite a bit of history there to explain (in addition to that of the building itself) as the walls were graced with huge oil paintings depicting different periods in France’s history, namely the myth of Saint-Genevieve and France’s first King (that she was said to have converted to Christianity) Clovis.

We then had a walk through the Luxembourg gardens, then went to a café to decide what to do: Normally I had wanted to go straight to Montmartre, but it was already getting towards noon. We decided after all to go, and take our chances of biting into the lunch hour.

We left the cab at the bottom of the hill, as I wanted to take them up by foot. This in itself is an experience: the streets are narrow and winding and the stairways steep and many. The last staircase opened onto a curving cobblestone road: to the right was the huge Sacré-Coeur basilica, but I took them to the left for a more roundabout tour through the neighbourhood’s quainter and less-trodden streets. We visited Paris’ second-oldest still-standing church, Saint Pierre, and there I could tell a bit more Roman history with its columns it had recycled from a temple to Jupiter that once stood on the mount. We then made our way to the Basilica and the terrace view fronting it: we spent a good fifteen minutes pointing out all of Paris’ landmarks from there, as we could see most all of them from our elevated view.

Luckily there were a couple taxis waiting at the Place du Tertre, and we sped off to catch our lunchtime date at the very French “Chartier” bistro. We arrived just in time, as lunch service normally ends at three – I ordered snails for an appetizer (a first for Shampa and Shekhar) and more traditional fare for the main dish – this place is not known for its “haute-cuisine”, but more for its reputation as a traditional (and authentic) 19th-century bistrot. The high punched-tin ceiling and hanging globes are indeed very typical for the late 1800’s. Shampa noticed that the walls were covered with little tagged drawers, and asked me if this was once a library or something of the sort: These used to hold utensils of the regulars to the establishment, and the tags would bear the name of its owners. After our meal I took a few pictures, and we headed out for the next part of our visit.

That morning I had drawn up a plan to cover all of Paris’ covered street galleries between there and the Palais-Royal. These were actually Paris’ first shopping malls: very early 19th century metal moulding technology allowed the fabrication of structures of a airier nature, so it was around then that these glass-roofed sun-or-shine shopping venues began to appear. Since we were on the rue de Faubourg-Montmartre, the opening of the Passage Verdeau was right near us. We strolled along the checkerboard-tiled alley, having a look in the boutiques and bookstores along the way. From there we did a “chain” of covered galleries: Jouffroy, passage des Panoramas, passage des Princes, passage de Choiseul, passage Colbert, passage Vivienne (stopping at the Jean-Paul Gautier boutique along the way) then finally visiting what could be considered to be Paris’ very first shopping mall: the columned covered galleries of the Palais-Royal.

We still had some time before dinner so I took Shampa and Shekhar to the “upside-down pyramid” part of the Louvre: its underground shopping mall. There I showed them the huge hallway leading to the salons where the fashion shows take place, and nearby there was a bit of history too as the digging of the mall uncovered Paris’ Louis XV ramparts which are now on display there. Leaving there we head up the avenue de L’ Opéra to have a look at the “Grands Magasins” (Printemps, Galeries Lafayette) and their Christmas decorations, then began to head back to our dinner date at the rue Richelieu. On the way we stopped off at the Grand Hotel for a cocktail.

Dinner was “Chez Davé”, a Chinese restaurant of an adorable sort: Its owner is quite photogenic and is present at many of Paris’ fashion events. His restaurant is very popular during fashion season, and his walls are filled with photos of the stars (with himself) who ate there. We again had a pleasant dinner, this time with my wife. After all four of us head off for a short walk along the Faubourg Saint-Honoré fashion district, as my wife is quite the professional for all things in that regard, then off to Harry’s New York bar for a farewell drink, as this was the last day we would be together. We talked over what we had done over the last days, and what they had planned for the next: Shopping shopping shopping and a day at the Louvre. Shampa was all bright-eyed about the first three, and Shekhar seemed more inclined towards the fourth. After a last look at the wood-panelled and pennant-ed walls, we made our way out the batwing doors to the cold night air. We did manage to find a taxi willing to take the four of us, then we made our way back to the hotel where we said our goodbyes.

In all, this was a very enjoyable four days. I hope that they will come again soon, as there is always something more to see in Paris. Speaking for myself, I’ve been living here for over decade and still I haven’t seen it all, but showing them around was a pleasure and a great exercise in history. Even these walks turned up a few details I should learn more on, and I’ll be sure to fill them in when I do.