The Best Bread Ever

I had made the mistake of capping off my 3 course dinner with a noisette and consequently I only got about 2 ½ hours of sleep. So since I was up so early I rearranged my itinerary for the day and end up near Les Halles waiting for the shops to open to try to find a pair of comfy-er shoes to do the rest of my sightseeing in. Fortunately waiting around in Paris is made a pleasure by just stepping into the closest café and ordering an au lait and croissant and pulling your novel out of your bag. To me Les Halles was only worth the wait for the 5 Euro tennies that carry me through the rest of the day and much of the rest of the week. Cute! Black with white polka dots.

From Les Halles I make my way up to Monmarte and climb the steps up to Sacre Coeur. The surrounding neighborhood is the most touristy area I’ve been in since arriving. There are guys hawking I-don’t-know-what, I don’t stop long enough to find out, There are incongruous arrays of kitschy souvenirs and displays of fabric and discount clothing. (Tiny little orange blouse for Aine only 1 Euro!). But the view of the city is indeed worth the trip. I again serve as my own photographer and snap a few of my head at the overlook and in front of the basilica. And I think of the boys in my life, Iggie, Colin, my dad as I ride the funicular back down. Who doesn’t love a good funicular ride after all?!

On my way back to the hotel to meet the rest of my Soroptimist delegation I stop off at Poilane. I’d love to take home nothing but their huge, delicious, crusty, moist, burnished loaves in my checked luggage and 5 or 6 kilos of the sables in my carry-on but I settle for 1/4 kilo of bread – I’ve never bought bread by the weight before – to spread my cheese and jam on back in the room. They wrap it in tissue paper like a gift from the boutique next door.

I meet up with the Soroptimist delegation in the lobby of the Ibis:
2 women from Soroptimist International
Margaret Lobo, President, Soroptimist International – from Australia
Margaret Cook, Soroptimist International Assistant Programme Director-from the UK
3 of Soroptimist International’s Representatives to UNESCO - from Paris
Yseult Kaplan
Marie-Christine Gries de la Barbelais
Dominque Mertz
And 2 other “young” Soroptimists
Gina Oliveri – from Perth, Australia
Shireen Lackey – from Florida, USA
(yup – for those of you who are counting, that’s 3 Margarets)

We make a quick game plan for the next 3 days and then Shireen and I join M. Cook for dinner and she picks our “young” brains for our perspective on Soroptimist, community service and women’s issues. I hope we are helpful!