A Lovely Day

The boys are in the midst of a two week break but we can't leave town because I'm in the middle of some protracted negotiations.

To pass the time, we've been seeing things we've always meant to see. One stop was the Paris sewers.

They stink, yes, but they are fascinating in their own way.

Later, we decided to go to the 13th Arrondissement to eat Chinese food. 

The 13th is a kind of diffuse Chinatown. Most of the restaurants are actually Vietnamese, a colonial legacy.

We go there periodically when we are tired of French food.

I took these pictures while we were walking to the car from our apartment.
Sky has been very happy lately.

It is springtime in Paris. The trees are full and fresh. The chestnut trees are in bloom. 

The real chestnuts have pink blossoms. Most of the chestnut trees in Paris are actually horse chestnuts, or conkers, which have white blossoms and are inedible.

We passed the esplanade at Trocadero. Sky took these pictures.

The long avenue along the right bank of the Seine, with its neatly trimmed horse-chestnut trees, is one of my favorite streets in Paris.

There's a bike path beneath the trees. I've never ridden along it, but it always looks peaceful and inviting.

We passed the Czar Alexander III bridge with the Invalides in the distance.

Me, from Sky's point of view.

And Sky from his own point of view.

True (with yet another haircut) was sleepy after several days of intense socializing. Anna ordered him a Vietnamese soup.

The boys had hot, sweet soy milk. I had iced coffee with condensed milk.

It's delicious when stirred up.

The waiter brought the condiments for the soup.

Lemon and plum sauce.

Before the soup arrived, we had nem, deep fried spring rolls, which you wrap in lettuce with mint leaves and dip in a slightly spicy sweet and sour sauce. It was all very satisfying.