The day started with breakfast at our apartment with mom and Mary. We walked together to Marché Bastille. While mom and Mary shopped at the market, we meet up with the von der Felsens at their hotel. We walked to the bird market near Notre Dame. The kids really enjoyed themselves. Jackson and Kai were in a trance watching birds fight over their perch. Grace and Amely played with the bunnies.
We had a nice picnic in the park behind Notre Dame. Mary and mom met us but Mary had more shopping to do so mom stayed with us. We said our goodbyes to the von der Felsens. They had to return to Brussels. It was a very nice visit. With mom with us, we went to Shakespeare and Company bookstore, which was originally founded by Sylvia Beach, then closed during the Vichy years and reopened in its present location along the Seine. In its heyday the bookstore drew famous and eventually famous ex-patriot authors throughout the English-speaking world, such as Hemingway, Joyce, and Fitzgerald. To this day the bookstore is a haven for writers to meet, borrow books, and even sleep, still with beds nestled upstairs among tightly packed, wooden bookshelves. There is a collection of new and used books. The children selection was limited but in a cozy corner so we read a few books while listening to piano music. As we passed over one of the many bridges in Paris, we saw lots and lots of locks locked to the bridge. Jack explained that couples attached the lock to the bridge throwing the key into the Seine as a symbol of their love to each other. This has the kids perplexed as to why anyone would profess such a thing, which we tried not to take personally!
To celebrate Mary's birthday, Mom and Dad's anniversary and father's day, we ate at Bofinger. Bofinger is the classical brassiere with a beautiful Tiffany dome in the middle atrium and waiters dressed in long white aprons. It is a very fancy place, the right place to celebrate so many things. We arrived early so we got to eat in the middle room with no reservations. The food was excellent and a highlight for all of us.
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