Today, Tuesday October 21, was gray and rain was predicted.  I went to the street market and bought some duck paté for dinner tonight, and then I headed out for an early lunch at Le Café des Chats, a café and thé salon that my friend Michaele had told me about.  You get to eat your lunch as you hang out with some cats.  I took the metro to Republique and then walked down rue de Temple to the cross street where the café was located.

I was lucky.  Generally you need reservations, but since I got there just as it was opening, they let me slip in--during the hour I was there I saw them turn away at least a dozen folks without reservations.  There were 8 cats at the café and 3 rules:
1.  Do not wake up a sleeping cat.
2.  Do not feed the cats.
3.  Do not use flash photography when taking pictures (which is why several of my pictures are a little dark).

So although I was tempted, I didn't wake up these cats.

And I didn't feed these cats even though they appeared not to understand rule 2 when they joined me at my table.

 He jumped up on the table and headed straight for my lunch!

 She was more polite, but still interested in what I was eating . . .

A tomato and goat cheese quiche.

This one reminded me of Earl Grey, one of Mary's cats.

 He's dreaming of escape.

 Or maybe just watching Cat T.V.

Nearby is a garden dedicated to the memory of Anne Frank.  It's small but very beautiful.

 It would be fun to come here and play chess.

Then, because it was just around another corner--and it was starting to rain--I visited a tiny little museum.  The Musée de la Poupée is a doll museum and doll hospital.

Here are some spare limbs and heads for dolls needing repair.

It's actually quite a charming little place.  Here are a couple of pictures.  I might like to come back here someday with my girls Mari and Rachael.

 Many of the dolls are arraanged in little tableaux.

 This is a lot of baby dolls.

There is also an extensive collection of miniatures and a special exhibit of snow globes, but I will spare you those pictures.

When I came out, it had stopped raining and . . . il fait beau!  The sun was shining and it was warming up.  I walked back to the rue de Temple and went to a most charming bookstore, "I Love My Blender."

It is small but has a nice collection of books and odds and ends.  I stayed for a while and bought some gifts to take home with me. 

Since the weather was still nice, I walked for about another 45 minutes, finally ending up on the Quai Louvre where I caught a bus home.

"Til tomorrow then.