Dans le deuxième arrondissement

Bonjour!

So this afternoon, after my lovely visit of the Louvre, my friend had to go do homework, so I decided to stroll homewards through a neighborhood I hadn't really seen much of yet, popping in and out of some of the shops along the way.  I wandered along the Rue St-Denis for a bit, which was pretty touristy, and then I encountered Le passage du Grand Cerf, the Passage of the Large Deer.  It's one of the little, covered walkways lined with boutiques that are scattered around Paris, and it looked like there was some good window shopping, so I headed down it.  I was severely tempted by a little yarn and craft store--all that beautiful yarn made me realize how much I miss crocheting--but it was pretty pricey, and I decided that my money would be better used on food, so I continued on.  There were a few little junk shops, for lack of a better way to describe them, but they were selling very classy junk, and they had really nice window displays.

the entrance to le Passage du Grand Cerf from Rue St-Denis

At the end of Le passage du Grand Cerf, I came upon Rue Montorgueil, which literally means "mountain of pride" (mont=mountain, orgueil=pride), and which is really more of a marché, or open-air market, than a street.  It was lined with all these great little shops selling all kinds of food!  So much of it looked delicious, but I limited myself to one little treat from a boulangerie.  Its name in French is un escargot au pistache, which literally translates to a pistachio snail, but we would call it... well, I've never seen one in the States, but it was the shape of a cinnamon bun, except instead of being flavored with cinnamon, it was flavored with pistachio nuts!  Yum!  And it wasn't too sweet, which was good, too.  So I had something to nibble on while I looked at all the rest of the food.

marché Montorgueil

escargot au pistache

where marché Montorgueil meets Rue Réaumur

At the end of Montorgueil, I found myself on Rue Réaumur, which I followed until I came back to Rue St-Denis, which I followed to its intersection with Boulevard St-Denis, which is right near where I live!  I was a little surprised at how quickly I had arrived home!  But Paris is never as big a city as I think it is, which I like, because I already feel that I know it pretty well, even though it's always surprising me, too!