Walking With Freddie: Sunday Morning on the Champs Élysées

Freddie and I went to Paris! It was a last-minute thing ... a special kind of opportunity (for, as followers of our story know, our family needs to be watching its Euros right now). Paul had some grocery shopping to do, so he stayed home. But we sent him a postcard.

Here are the stylish doors of l'Hôtel de la Petite Fleur, where we stayed. We arrived late last night in order to get an early start today.

The hotel soap dispenser was charming!

Coffee to begin the day, bien sûr! I found this copy of Simone de Beauvoir's memoir in the hotel breakfast room. I read for a little while, but Freddie was anxious to get out and about ... as was I!

These benches are in the Père Lachaise Cemetery. Having already been introduced to the Fairview Presbyterian Catacombs, Freddie was prepared. He thought Oscar Wilde's tomb was all right, but he preferred the smells around the Abelard and Héloise monument.

This building is located quite close to the Georges Pompidou Centre and was apparently inspired by the centre's "high-tech" design.

Shop window on Boulevard Haussmann, near Galéries Lafayette

This fountain is near the Sorbonne.

The campus wasn't busy, it being Sunday, but there were a few students around.

A tiny gallery not far from the Musée d'Orsay — not yet open for the day

This little fountain is on rue du Musée, near the Musée Rodin. Freddie and I strolled through the museum gardens and saw Rodin's famous Thinker (which has already been photographed and painted plenty — our apartment has a Thinker replica on one of the bookcases and an Impressionist rendering in the bathroom!).

Here we are on the Champs Élysées! Freddie's trying to convince me that I really don't want to stop for another coffee and a chocolate croissant. It was tough, but he succeeded!

I let Freddie lead the way for a bit, and he took us to this spot, under one of the main rail arteries into the Gare du Nord. Interesting smells, I guess?

He admired this place with that "Let's Go for a Car Ride!" look in his face, and I said, "No way, Mario."

I then took him to this farmers' market, which was closed. Zut alors!

I spared Freddie the line-up at the Louvre, but we visited the Tuileries nearby.

Oh, how Freddie longed to take a dip in that Parisian pond!

The landscaping was very Frehnch!

Weird photo of weird art!

This is just outside Café de Flore, where Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre and their gang used to hang out and exist. Freddie's more interested in the moped shooting down Boulevard Saint-Germain.