La cour Cadet and surrounds

We started today at "les grands magasins" - the super department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.  Brent does his once-a-year suit and business shirt shopping at Printemps because they offer tourists a 10% discount and a refund of VAT (sales tax).  Once you make your purchase you need to take your receipts to the international service desk and, if you prefer a cash refund over a later refund to your credit card, then you need to then head to the international cash desk.  This all sounds quite straightforward, but, believe me, in the heat of a department store, contending with busloads - yes, actual bus-loads - of tourists from Asian regions, who shop like a noisy swarm at the likes of Chanel, Vuitton and Balenciaga and then queue for tax refunds, it means an agonising line-up-and-wait experience.  Anyway, I'm sure Brent has seen enough of my exasperated expression today, so I'll end on a high note and say, two suits, two shirts, jocks and socks...et voilà...les grands magasins is ticked off our list!

Shortly after leaving Printemps we encountered a handsome fellow in the street...been shopping at Printemps, you ask?  Maybe!  He was attired in a stylish red harness and was very happy to pose for a photo.

A well deserved stop for a leisurely lunch and then a wander to Place Saint-Georges and along rue Cadet, a pedestrian street in the 9th arrondissement.  Rue Cadet has a local, village feel - it was fairly quiet today, but street stalls offered DVDs, underwear and fruit and vegetables - something for every mood!  We discovered la cour Cadet, a small courtyard hidden behind a doorway.  The courtyard dates to the 18th century, when it formed part of the house of the gardener to Louis XV.  In 1808 it was transformed into a hotel particulier that was home to the Pleyel family - musicians and piano makers - and it was the stage for Chopin's first and last concerts in Paris for the royal family.  Today the courtyard is home to a community vegetable garden, experimenting with and teaching ways to use and conserve rainwater for sustenance of the veges.