Pastry I have seen or eaten so far

In the window of a very high-end pastry shop.

Breakfast croissant.

Alas, after eating quiche I couldn't eat any of these beautiful pastries, but settled for Sorbet from Bertillion (one of the
best ice cream makers in Paris). The location: a delightful cafe called "Les Deux Abeilles" near the museum where we spent yesterday morning.

My quiche and Len's omelette.

A slice of pigeon pie at La Cerisaie, a fabulous restaurant near our hotel.
The name of the restaurant is a reference to Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard."

Savory pastries in the window of a pastry shop near the apartment
we rented on a long stay in Paris years ago. It's interesting that
the shop is still in business, with pastry as beautiful as ever.

I just wish I could eat one of these beautiful creations every time I see them!

A New Museum: Musée du Quai Branly

The Musée du Quai Branly has been open for 10 years, but that's a very short time for a museum in Paris, and today was our first experience there. We spent several hours looking at the permanent collections of ethnographic materials from Oceania, Asia, Africa, and South America, and saw two special exhibits: "Mata Hoata: Arts and Society in the Marquesas Islands" and "Shamans and gods of pre-Columbian Ecuador."

From our hotel the logical metro stop is Bir Hakim, which lets you off near the Eiffel Tower. So before the museum opened, we walked past the tower and looked around for a while:

There were at least three con games (or maybe pickpocket schemes) going on. This is the first time we've ever seen
someone actually tricking people into betting on a shell game -- a literal shell game!

The unusual architecture of the museum includes a "green wall." The architect is Jean Nouvel.

From the unexpectedly large gardens, you can see the Eiffel Tower.
The red building is the museum. It's intentionally not visible as a
dramatic view, but sort of hides in plain sight.

Birds of course love the garden. This is a songthrush (corrected from earlier
version of this post).

Also birds inside! This is a harpy eagle from a South American people. We saw so much that the images I'm
posting represent only a tiny fraction of the amazing collections and objects we saw. All my examples are from South America.

In a section of the museum about meditation among
shamans in South America we saw this sculpture.

A vase decorated with yucca pods, used to celebrate a harvest festival.

Vases representing sickness, including a deformed foot.

The museum collections came from the Museum of Man and the old Colonial Museum or African Art Museums that needed modernization around the beginning of the century, so the French government decided to create an entirely new center for this type of art. It's surely one of the best such collections, as the French were very enthusiastic ethnographers and collectors from their earliest voyages of discovery and conquest.

The Gardens include some reedy ponds that were a nice place
for this moorhen and her chick (just visible in the center).

Leaving the museum: more views of the Eiffel Tower.

Of course we've been enjoying lots more meals in the past 24 hours, and I have lots more food photos, but that will have to wait.

Walking in Paris

Making crepes.

The TGV (fast train) we took from Arles to Paris arrived at the Gare de Lyon at 11:15 this morning, and a taxi was waiting as we exited the station. We were in our hotel by noon, ready to walk around the city.

We started with lunch in a crepe restaurant on Rue de Montparnasse: a center for Breton crepes. Each restaurant name includes the location in Brittany where the original proprietors came from -- maybe a few generations ago.

The place seems very popular with local office workers.

As we strolled we looked in shop windows. This antique doll kitchen was
in a shop named "La Maison de Poupée."

I took this photo to show to a friend who should have studied with Poulenc.

After walking down Boulevard Saint Michel we went into our favorite museum, the Musee du Cluny, where
the most wonderful tapestries in the world are on display again. (Last time we were here they were in New York.)

We love the Lady and the Unicorn!

We also enjoyed the displays of medieval stained glass. These partridges reminded us of our tour last week,
where we saw a red-legged partridge at dawn while birdwatching. We also love the medieval sculptures,
the collections of ivory and precious metals, and much more about our favorite museum.

The weather was nice so lots of people were sitting in cafes and near fountains.

Between the Latin Quarter and our hotel near Montparnasse,
the Luxembourg Gardens are a beautiful place to walk.

More window-shopping: a souvenir item I am not going to buy!

... and a very elaborate cake in the window of a famous pastry shop.

Sunday Lunch near the Pont du Gard

We hoped to find birds at the famous Pont du Gard, but a bitter wind
was discouraging to both us and the birds. 

The Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct supported by a bridge over the river Gard; it's one of the most impressive
surviving Roman structures. Built around 2000 years ago, it carried water 21 miles from the nearby hills to the Roman city of Nimes. We climbed up a long stairway to see the panoramic view from above, and take a close look at the aqueduct.

Cold and hungry, we found a restaurant called La Provence in the tiny town
of Saint Bonnet du Gard. We approached the terrace through a
series of narrow walkways. The wisteria and irises growing there were
beautiful, but we wanted to eat inside where it was warm.

A vase of iris were on the table when we sat down at around noon.
After around a quarter of an hour, all the other tables were filled
with French people enjoying a leisurely multi-course lunch:
a wonderful French tradition that I was very happy to enjoy also.

We began with a vegetable soup, served from tureens.
Then my set menu began with this duck fois gras terrine, a bit of
sweet onion jam, and two raspberries. 

Len had the smoked salmon with "petites legumes." 

My main course was confit of duck with a sauce of cepe mushrooms.
Several dishes of vegetables and rice were served family-style.

A platter of Provencal tomatoes ready to share.

My incredible plate of cheese. I don't know what these are,
but their flavors are complex and delicious.

Dessert.

Scenery from the tiny town where we ate.

Arles: Saint Trophime Cloister

Between birding trips in the past week, we've visited several cloisters, churches, chapels, and other buildings around Arles, where we've seen some magnificent stone carvings. We spent quite a bit of time in the cloister of St. Trophime, attached to the former cathedral in Arles. The romanesque capitals and other carvings in this cloister are regarded as among the most beautiful stonework of that era, and the architecture is beautiful. A few images:

Our group viewing the cloister.

This capital is especially famous: it shows the three kings sleeping at an inn on their way to Bethlehem.

The church tower seen from the cloister.

I'm especially fond of romanesque art, and very impressed by several places we've visited this trip.