The market, Richard Lenoir Boulevard

I'd just completed the journal and proceded to lose it all by clicking on the tab in Firefox and carrying out a search to confirm the location of one of the places we'd visited today. I've done this before, usually when distracted. What follows is an attempt at recreating that witty entry.

Our first destination today was the Market Richard Lenoir, near the Bastille, reputed to be the best market in Paris. In the event it turned out to be OK, but not as good as I was expecting. Plenty of fruit and veg, meat, cheese, bread and all the other usual stuff you'd find in a market. I'd especially wanted to buy some saffron, being as it is likely to be cheaper in a market in France than from a supermarket in the UK. I was to be disappointed, there was only one stall selling spices and they were not selling saffron.

From the market we took the metro to the north of the city to the Musée Jacquemart-André on Boulevard Haussmann. This opulent mansion was built in the late 19th C for M. and Mme Andre a wealthy Parisian couple. They proceeded to fill the house with paintings, sculpture and all sorts of other art to complement the rich decorations and adornments of each room. The visit was made more interesting with the ability to download and iPhone app, while in the museum, to give an audio commentary on each of the rooms accompanied with more photos and additional information.

Seeing the sort of wealth displayed here while so many Parisians, and indeed most other people in the world were so poor, makes the idea of Socialism seem so much more attractive.

Another reason for visiting the museum was to see its special exhibition of Impressionist paintings, which focused on capturing the essence of being a wealthy person holidaying on the coast of Normandy in the second part of the 19th and early part of the 20thC. It was a very interesting exhibition; beaches, towns, people, views, ports, harbours and boats all featured as did most of the usual Impressionist painters incuding Monet.

The whole visit was very pleasant and on a human scale, you could see everything and appreciate all that the museum and exhibition had to offer, which is not always the case in the larger museums whih can be overwhelming.

From there we ambled  along the exclusive shopping street Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore past the Élysée Palace and many embassies to Place de Madeleine. A considerable police presence was in evidence here, as it has been in most of Paris.

Disappointed by Place de Madeleine. We went into the church which was interesting enough but the much vaunted food shops were absent without leave. Caviar Kaspia and Hediard, two of the five renown shops in the Place were closed for renovations.

It was time then to head back to Marion's place to pick up the suitcase we'd left there. Time to have a bite to eat; one final morsel of bread and cheese before hopping onto the metro for the short journey to Gare Du Nord. A bit fraught as we couldn't find out how to get to the Eurostar terminal and had to carry out a few illegal moves to get to the right level.

It was a crowded and cramped trip back to Ashord on a train that was clearly past its best. It will be a relief when the much vaunted new trains are fully in service. One last irritation presented itself at Ashford. We'd pre-booked parking but found that we had to walk quite a way to get the ticket validated while those with just a ticket were able to pay on the way out of the station.

All in all a good few days despite the misgivings about going to a city so recently scarred by terrorism.