I forgot to take photos of the Georgetown Library interior when I was there on this day, so the indoor shots are all from a month later.

Coffeeneuring Ride #2: Georgetown Neighborhood Library (3260 R St., N.W.) and Boulangerie Christophe (1422 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.)

Sunday, Oct. 15; 3.5 miles

Tea, chocolate chip Viennoise

The Georgetown Neighborhood Library has been my regular library for the past couple years, when the West End branch closed for renovations. I usually stop by once a week or so and then often head down to the waterfront to read for a while.

The building was opened in 1935 and used to be a much darker place. (I wrote a paper on Siddhartha there when I was a senior in high school visiting my dad, who was working in D.C. at that time.) But it had a fire in 2007 (coincidentally the same day Eastern Market suffered a similarly devastating fire) and was rebuilt at that time, reopening in 2010.

The building sits atop a crest of Wisconsin Avenue, giving it lovely views of the surrounding area. The park behind the library gives the neighborhood its name, Book Hill, and usually is the first place I see spring bulbs forming.

Fiction and a/v materials are in the reading rooms on either side of the main foyer. Children’s books are in a well-lit room in the basement (which opens onto an outdoor amphitheater), while nonfiction and teens get space on the second floor. The third floor holds a reference room on the history of Georgetown with papers from the original Peabody Library in Georgetown established in the early 19th century.

After picking up my books, I decided to check out a relatively new French bakery that had opened up further down Wisconsin Avenue, Boulangerie Christophe. Georgetown is lacking bike parking overall, so I locked my bike to a street sign and then headed indoors. I ordered tea and a chocolate chip Viennoise.

There was a back patio and it was a pleasant afternoon, so I headed outdoors to read. I was delighted to find they’d painted the adjoining wall to make it look like you were sitting outside a French café.

It really was a nice way to spend an afternoon. I stopped at the garden and then pedaled home.