Up early this morning to make sure we had time to walk to the designated meeting place at Saint Germain de Près for our gourmet walking tour, with ViaTour. We could very easily have taken the metro, but it was a gorgeous morning again and so we set off for the 30 min walk under sunny skies. We met Eve, our guide and the rest of our group as arranged and strolled around the open air food market, meeting stall holders and eating viennoisserie, such as croissants, pain au chocolate, pain aux raisons and chouquettes, all of which are typically eaten as breakfast, or as snacks. I had a pain aux raisons – yum!

Eve was fantastic in her knowledge and, amongst many other things, talked about artisan boulangers (bakers) or chocolatiers, who make everything on their premises and who may be awarded ‘Le Meilleur Ouvrier en France’ which, if gained, identifies a high level of quality of their goods,   ‘Label Rouge’ certification for meat and fish and Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) which  translates as “controlled designation of origin” and is the French certification for wines, cheeses and butter.

After a coffee break, we finished the tour with a visit to a specialist shop on Rue Mouffetard, 5th arrondissement, which is supposedly the longest street in Paris and initially part of a roman road running from the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) to Italy. We enjoyed some duck foie gras ‘mi-cuit’, goose rillettes, Brie de Melun and Sainte Maure de Touraine goats cheese, with the obligatory and absolutely delicious baguette, plus a sweet white wine, Château la Barrière -Côtes de Bergerac Moelleux 2012. I can’t remember when I had the same, or even something similar, for lunch in Brisbane?? It was great tour, with some lovely people and we both really enjoyed it.  Bravo, Eve!

Our next stop after the tour was le Jardin des Plantes. Yes, I know, another garden and more flowers, but it was beautiful and in any case, was on the way to our intended destination for the afternoon, Musée National Picasso, in Rue de Thorigny (3rd arrondissement).

There is no other way to describe the exhibition of Picasso’s work but as brilliant and it was fascinating to see paintings that I had studied at school ‘in the flesh’  and be able to clearly see the transition he made in painting style, as his early realism portraits were juxtaposed with his more abstract style from later years.

Another day with lots of walking, but what a way to exercise, strolling around Paris!

The only downside today? Paris tends to have high airborne pollen in Spring, something we were not aware of beforehand, but certainly are now. I’ve never suffered particularly from allergies in the past, just the odd bit of hayfever here and there. Neither has Jeff had any issues before, but we’re both now wishing we’d packed some antihistamines tablets in our bags, plus more tissues, as we coughed and sneezed all morning, as did everyone else in our tour group. However, since we leave for Bruges first thing tomorrow morning, I haven’t bothered to buy any, but if the problem is still around when we return here at the end of the month, I certainly won’t be hesitating.

So, Paris in the springtime is beautiful, but sneezy!! Who knew?