Saturday in Kyoto

Another hot day and we were determined to get back to the hotel by late afternoon for a well deserved break from the walking and the heat, and to help Ryne plan his extra week in Hokkaido. Ha.

​We marched off to the Silver Pavilion, Ginkaku-ji (photo above), which is not silver! Like Kinkaku-ji this was also a retirement villa that was then dedicated as a Zen temple. The intention was originally to cover the building in a silver foil, but the work was never started, thus the "unfinished" look.

Then we walked down the Philosophers Walk which is a pedestrian path along a canal between Ginkaku-ji and another temple complex Nansen-ji.  The path is about 1 mile long and is said to have been used by Japan's most famous philosopher for his daily/mediatative walks.

Lot of women, and men, strollling in kimono - which you can rent, along with the tabi, the shoes, and all the accessories (including getting your hair and makeup done) 

Of course, we made a few stops along the way including a climb to the top of one the largest temple gates at Can't Remember the Name It Was Too Hot and We Have Seen Too Many...

We decided to hit the local food market on the way back, where I resisted the temptation to snack on octopus with a quail egg stuffed in its head:

Of course, we ended up back at the hotel for our "break" at 5:30. We all passed out until about 7, which gave us the energy to walk 3 blocks to a la Chalamont, a Japanese French restaurant, and wow, what a find. Seriously. Tiny place, run by wife-husband team. We ordered bouillabaisse, beef stew, and coq a vin. French wine list was a challenge, as always, but we ordered a Rhone- always a safe bet. Appetizer as what we thought was going to be a chicken cordon bleu, but ended up being a deconstructed version of that, on fresh salad greens. It was all fantastic.

We ordered the "Chef's special dessert", and the Japanese couple next to us were so impressed they got one too.