Bookstore reading and dinner

Went to an afternoon conversation group for an hour and a half then met Gabriella at the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore to hear American poet Marilyn Hacker read from her works.  The place is right on the Seine near St. Michelle, the famous fountain and tourist site, and in a very very old building.  There were people standing outside trying to get in the door when I arrived.  Gabriella called my cell to say she was inside and upstairs so the woman taking care of the door led a bunch of us up the side stairs.  We all sat in a room full of old books and listened over a speaker system.  Afterwards, we had dinner in vegetarian restaurant nearby. Gabriella gave the same evaluation of the food that she had several years previously when we visited one of Paris' few other vegetarian establishments..."I'm never going back there!"  Of course, I told her she always orders the most common of dishes and doesn't like them.  Anyway, mine was fine, seitain with veggies and a salad.  We did share a desert that was dreadful, a chocolate crepe.  Now it's hard to get that one wrong but they served us old crepes that were more like rubber then food....so I have to partly agree with her.  We then walked past Notre Dame Cathedral on our way to the bus stop on the right bank.  The Xmas trees was still lit so it was quite beautiful, however, the Hotel de Ville was also still lit and that was an extraordinary site to behold.  That building is one of my favorites in the city and for the holidays they put blinking white lights across its rooftop.  The plaza below was ablaze with light covered trees and other light designs.  The cold was harsh but we both agreed that the walk well worth the effort and our bus arrived in just 4 minutes time.