Bar du Marché

Here's the view from my favorite place to sit and draw in Paris.

Just off the Boulevard St. Gérmain sits a cozy and inexpensive café called Paul. It's a not very hip chain bakery/café where we loved to eat. The staff got to know us and after a while became very protective. I could sit and draw all day.

Across the street was the still touristy but much hipper Bar du Marché. The Marché made all their wait staff (all male) dress in overalls and wear a puffy cap meant to evoke workers or artistes of the neighborhood circa 1900. Either that, or they were huge fans of Dexy's Midnight Runners. Most of the guys were very hunk-y, and it was funny to watch them work the crowd that would inevitably flock to their outdoor tables. But notice the waiter here--I'll have to tell you about him in the next post. He was like a Chinese Charlie Chaplin.

This drawing was started over there, finished back home as a gift for our friend Tara. If you look down the street, you can see the angled roof line of the Institute de France. This is where Dear Wife spent most of her days researching her dissertation.