April 10

This is a little English-style pub called le Bombardier just behind the Pantheon in the 5th. Before I visited Paris in October of 2006, someone I know who had just been there told me about this place and how much they'd liked it. Perhaps it's silly to seek out an English pub in the heart of Paris, but sometimes a good pint of Guinness hits the spot more than a glass of wine, and I like to have options.

My friend gave me a rough outline of where the pub was, but not the exact location, so I wandered around for a while trying to find it. But first, I visited the Pantheon, and I took this picture from the roof of that amazing building, not knowing that it's what I was taking a picture of. I just thought it looked picturesque, so I snapped a photo. Sure, I can read the sign now, but while I was taking the photo, not so much.




After I left the Pantheon, I wandered for a good hour searching for the bar, asking folks if they had heard of it & getting no info. I actually wound up pretty far afield and eventually went into a hotel lobby where the super-spiffy concierge looked it up on the computer, made ah-hah noises, and printed off a map for me. And yeah, I'd been mere steps away when I started the whole journey -- it's literally just around the back of the Pantheon. Had I turned right instead of left when I came out of the building I would have run right into it. Doofus.

I went back and had a couple of pints while I read a copy of the NY Times Sunday Magazine I was toting around in my purse. The bar staff were all British expats who of course spoke my language as well as fluent French. I find that I need to make a couple of little islands of English-speaking while I'm there to give my brain a rest from the effort of French, so I have stashed away a couple of location like this where I can duck in & not feel bad about speaking English for an hour or so. Sad but true. Maybe if I work a little harder my French will be better by the next trip. Need to break out the Pimsleur CDS again.