Ater Sunday's rain yesterday was sunny but still cold. 13 degrees all morning. This still made a great morning to explore the St. Martin's Canal. Just a short Metro ride to the Republic Metro stop to the NNE of here. When we came out of the Metro we realised we had not seen the memorial to the creation of the Republic before so stopped for a close up. It is a very impressive column with brass reliefs around it telling the story of the significant events. This made me remember my history and that it was a development over about 50 years rather than just the uprising which was the the beginning.
From there we quickly found the Canal which is an old transport canal complete with a number of locks. It vanishes below ground at Republic and is no longer used. Now it is maintained as a recreation area with exercise equipment, table tennis tables and childrens playgrounds. It also goes for a very long way and provides a long walking/ running track. We walked quite a way and criss crossed several of the footbridges before linking up with a Metro station for the trip home.
We had sufficient time for a trip to the laundromat before lunch. As was our custom we went for a stroll around the adjacent streets while the wash was in process and arrived back for the drier. As we went to move our carry bags to the drier table end Bob realised that someone had stolen the large plastic shopping bag he used to take the laundry to and fro. My fancier nylon laundry bag was untouched and fortunately cound fit all the folded laundry. We were quite bemused as we haven't had that happen before. Also fortunately we have a spare.
After our post lunch kip we set off back to Monmarte to explore a self guided walking tour of the Covered Passages of the area. There were about 120 of these covered shopping arcades throughout Paris until a modernisation process did away with all but about 30 of them. Monmarte has a significant number of them and we just had to track down the first of a series which lead one to another. We then spent a very pleasant hour and a half exploring half a dozen of them. The guide had also mentioned a traditional restaurant with reasonable prices. It was early for dinner but we could see others eating so we decided to give it a try. It was a huge restaurant, quite beautifully decorated and very practised at dealing with tourists. It also rapidly became very busy as many like us poured in. We decided to share an entre of foix gras and a salad then ordered a main each. The pate and salad was very good especallially as I have been missing my veges. The mains were less appetizing reminding me very much of the over cooked meals of my nursing school days.
However it was an "experience" and we caught the Metro home for coffee and cake.
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