Il était une fois l'Orient Express

A gorgeous wander across the 6th and 5th arrondissements to see the Orient Express exposition at the Institut du Monde Arabe.  The Arab Institute is a fabulous building.  It has an amazing wall of window panes, behind which sit mechanical-like metal shades.  Inside, the building is all steel and glass, with see-through lifts and ladder-like stairwells from the ground to the 9th floor.  As the sun moves across the building, shade-shapes play through the metal window patterns onto the walkways.

The exhibition was great - cabins decorated to reflect the characters who once travelled on the Orient Express:  Josephine Baker, Graham Greene, Agatha Christie, Lord Baden Powell.  Inside the Institut, two rooms exhibited excerpts of films featuring the Orient Express, maps, photos and travel posters.

We had lunch at the Libanais restaurant in the bowels of the Institut - lanterns hung over low wooden tables, leather poufs and low-slung chairs - a little bit of Sydney Road in Paris!  We had the most amazing drinks - I'm going back just for les boissons! - Laymounada (limonade à base de citron et de menthe fraiche, parfumé à la fleur d'oranger) and MaWared (à base d'Eau de Rose de Damas).

We took the lift to the 9th floor for a fabulous view from the terrasse of Ile Saint-Louis and Notre-Dame.  I had to close my eyes on the way up and down - I'm not a fan of these industrial type buildings where all the space is exposed between floors!

Then it was on to Croco Disc, a favourite record shop, where the staff greeted Brent like an old ami!  The shop is actually two separate stores side by side - soul & funk, pop & rock - so we start in one and finish in the other.  Two bags full of treasure, almost two hours later (oui, deux heures!!), we headed to the metro and, while it wasn't a patch on the Orient Express, we were dropped at the door of le Bon Marché to pick up the evening baguette and head home.