Mr. Splendid and I are back in Eze for a couple of weeks. When we’re here in the winter we like to take a little excursion to take advantage of our wide-reaching Nice airport. But, this year, instead of flying, we walked out our door and hopped on the SCNF train at the Gare d’Eze. When we reached Nice we transferred onto the TGV and zipped up to Paris because we had a Sunday lunch to attend.

I just love the tradition of long, languid Sunday lunches in France. I love the reverence for relaxing and spending time with friends and family on this final day of the calendar week. “Bon Dimanche!” is the common greeting on this sacred day, as people prepare for enjoying this day of leisure.
It’s actually been a couple of decades since we’ve been to Paris, over the years we have tended to migrate to the south when visiting France. Back in the day when Paris was a top stop we always loved staying on the Île Saint Louis, where the city of lights began. I’m happy to report that the island is just as charming as ever and we settled in quickly to the hotel Des Deux Iles. The proximity to the Île de Cité gave us a chance to pass by Notre Dame on a regular basis. This side is still under construction, but the church is open to visitors, more on that coming up.

Today, I am going to focus on the perfect Sunday we savored in Paris last week. After a satisfying breakfast in our hotel we bundled up and headed out to explore. The muddy Siene river was running rapidly as we walked along it to get to the Musée d’Orsay.

The Musée d’Orsay has always been one of my favorites, the former train station has fantastic architecture and light and an incomparable selection of impressionist art. We went straight up to the top floor, where the impressionist collections reside. I’ll leave you for a bit to wander down and see some of my favorites, click on the captions for more information…


The windows on the higher floors give great glances over the city of Paris, one of the most spectacular is that looking out of the clock tower.

Back on the first floor, the enormous Romains de la Décadence by Thomas Couture rests along the edges of the sculpture hall. While touring, there were many artists~in~training sketching their versions of the masters works. I loved the juxtaposition of this little child in pink, sitting inside of the boundary fence beneath a massive orgy scene sketching away with an occasional glance up for perspective.

This is the ceiling of beautiful dining hall of the former train station.

After the museum, we popped into Cordelia’s ethereal flower shop and tea room, I could have stayed there for hours! The fragrance of the flowers was powerful and inviting. At the front of the store there was a counter with tempting treats, coffee and tea. Inviting sitting areas were upholstered with gorgeous thick floral fabrics, coordinating fabrics created enveloping curtains and lined the hanging lighting, all very cozy and welcoming.

But, we had a lunch to get to. So, we chose a lovely little basket of hyacinths for our hosts and went out the door.

and continued on the Rue de Bac.

Then this arresting display of mimosa’s stopped me in my tracks. On our train journey, we saw yellow patches of these fluffy, yellow signs of spring all along the way and here they were again, all packed up and ready to go.

I had to get a bunch for our friends at the delightful Bac á Fleurs.

We arrived to lunch just on time and look at this beautiful table she set. We settled in for a great afternoon catching up with our dear friends. Lunch began with a lovely mushroom soup, continued with roast chicken, vegetables and potatoes, simple and so satisfying, accented with a very potent dijon mustard, all just divine. To top it off we indulged in a luscious Galette des Rois, fragrant frangipani wrapped in crunchy layers of puff pastry.

After a rest back on the Île Saint Louis, we were out again for dinner at the newly refurbished Hotel Lutetia. We bellied up to the seafood bar and enjoyed some oysters and the Ernest salad, butter lettuce leaves surrounded loads of fresh lobster, avocado, grapefruit and ginger. It was very delicious and so flavorful, I can’t wait to recreate it.

I was also inspired by this spectacular flower arrangements, I think it would be so easy to make and very long lasting. Beautiful magnolia branches standing, accented with gorgeous dipping stems of Phalenopsis orchids. I’ll keep you posted.

And then our Sunday came to a close with a stroll home, past the Notre Dame

and back to the Île Saint Louis.

Thank you for coming along to enjoy our Sunday in Paris. I hope you have a very “bon dimanche”!

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