A Paris Flaneur

Taken verbatim from a projected novel written sometime in the mid to late 1980s, but then largely destroyed:

1) Scene from a Paris Brasserie

I took the Metro
to Montparnasse-Bienvenue,
where I slowly sipped a demi-blonde
in one of those brasseries
immortalised by Brassai...
bewhiskered old toper
in a naval officer's cap,
his table bestrewn
with empty wine bottles
and cigarette butts,
repeatedly screeched the name "Phillippe"
until such a time as...
a pallid, impassive bartender
with patent leather hair,
filled the old man's glass to the brim,
with a mock-obsequious
"Voila, mon Capitaine!"

2) Onwards...les Halles

I cut into the Rue de Bac,
traversed the Pont Royal,
briefly beheld
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois,
with its gothic tower,
constructed only latterly,
in order that
the 6th Century church
might complement
the style of the remainder
of the 1er arrondissement...
before steering for the Place de Chatelet,
and onwards...les Halles.