Paris, End Day 1, Start Day 2
Made it out last night and it was GREAT.
We walked down towards the Sein, drinking in the sights. We had a very tasty dinner at a place that dubbed itself Madame Tomatoe. Laura had delicious pasta and I had a chicken sauteed with tomatoes and fresh fried potatoes.
We then returned to the right bank area of the Sein, passing Hotel de Ville and snapping photos of the crescent moon adjacent to Notre Dame, crossed the bridge to the island and walked passed the great cathedral and the statue of Charlemagne. We briefly crossed to the Left Bank, but returned to the island to walk down to Pont de Neuf and there we caught a river cruise to see the sights all lit up for night.
We bought our tickets and suddenly there were half a dozen tour groups marching through. We were slightly buffeted along, but we got good seats on top of the boat in the open air. The cruise was beautiful (though the tour book was correct that the French and English narration by the tour company was pretty useless). We saw the Louvre, the Orsay, the Place de la Concorde, the Grand Palais, Notre Dame from the river side, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower brilliantly lit up. The tour groups were pretty well behaved and the retirees from the Australian/New Zealand tour behind us were pretty funny. Laura did have to make the international sign of "hey lady you make a better door than a window" to a French speaking lady who kept leaping up in front of us to take pictures, not only spoiling several of my shots, but also spending a lot of time just standing blocking the way. The Aussies had shouted a lot of "hey down in front" at her, but she had been oblivious.
But she sure got Laura's point and she was much better behaved from there on out.
After the tour, which I have to repeat, was just beautiful, we headed back to the Right Bank and then up towards our apartment. On the way, we stopped at a gelato store by the Pompidou Center, where the delicious frozen custard is served on cones and shaped before your eyes into a flower. Beautiful and delicious.
We happily munched as we approached our block and walked all around the block, spotting the local supermarket, so we would know what was around. Turns out we are comic book central, as we have at least two comic book stores within a block of our apartment.
Need to find a bakery.
This morning, I tried to get out of bed at 7.
When I succeeded in rising, somewhat after 8:30, I got myself dressed and ran out to the local supermarket to pick up some necessaries. Picked up orange juice, milk, eggs, yogurt, sandwich bread, and butter. Cost just under 9 Euros. Then, thinking myself clever, I went back to the fruit store that is just around the corner from our apartment entrance, because the fruit we saw last night looked terrific. Apparently, however, they don't open very early, because it was after 9:20 and they were all closed up. I also verified that we don't seem to have a bakery within a couple of blocks because I neither saw nor smelled any fresh bread (or more importantly, chocolate croissants).
The search will continue.
Now I have got both Laura and I breakfast and we hope to get out, do some walks, tour Notre Dame and perhpas go to the Cluny and other museums.
It has been and will continue to be GREAT here in Paris!!
We walked down towards the Sein, drinking in the sights. We had a very tasty dinner at a place that dubbed itself Madame Tomatoe. Laura had delicious pasta and I had a chicken sauteed with tomatoes and fresh fried potatoes.
We then returned to the right bank area of the Sein, passing Hotel de Ville and snapping photos of the crescent moon adjacent to Notre Dame, crossed the bridge to the island and walked passed the great cathedral and the statue of Charlemagne. We briefly crossed to the Left Bank, but returned to the island to walk down to Pont de Neuf and there we caught a river cruise to see the sights all lit up for night.
We bought our tickets and suddenly there were half a dozen tour groups marching through. We were slightly buffeted along, but we got good seats on top of the boat in the open air. The cruise was beautiful (though the tour book was correct that the French and English narration by the tour company was pretty useless). We saw the Louvre, the Orsay, the Place de la Concorde, the Grand Palais, Notre Dame from the river side, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower brilliantly lit up. The tour groups were pretty well behaved and the retirees from the Australian/New Zealand tour behind us were pretty funny. Laura did have to make the international sign of "hey lady you make a better door than a window" to a French speaking lady who kept leaping up in front of us to take pictures, not only spoiling several of my shots, but also spending a lot of time just standing blocking the way. The Aussies had shouted a lot of "hey down in front" at her, but she had been oblivious.
But she sure got Laura's point and she was much better behaved from there on out.
After the tour, which I have to repeat, was just beautiful, we headed back to the Right Bank and then up towards our apartment. On the way, we stopped at a gelato store by the Pompidou Center, where the delicious frozen custard is served on cones and shaped before your eyes into a flower. Beautiful and delicious.
We happily munched as we approached our block and walked all around the block, spotting the local supermarket, so we would know what was around. Turns out we are comic book central, as we have at least two comic book stores within a block of our apartment.
Need to find a bakery.
This morning, I tried to get out of bed at 7.
When I succeeded in rising, somewhat after 8:30, I got myself dressed and ran out to the local supermarket to pick up some necessaries. Picked up orange juice, milk, eggs, yogurt, sandwich bread, and butter. Cost just under 9 Euros. Then, thinking myself clever, I went back to the fruit store that is just around the corner from our apartment entrance, because the fruit we saw last night looked terrific. Apparently, however, they don't open very early, because it was after 9:20 and they were all closed up. I also verified that we don't seem to have a bakery within a couple of blocks because I neither saw nor smelled any fresh bread (or more importantly, chocolate croissants).
The search will continue.
Now I have got both Laura and I breakfast and we hope to get out, do some walks, tour Notre Dame and perhpas go to the Cluny and other museums.
It has been and will continue to be GREAT here in Paris!!