Day 18 - More Paris!
Have I mentioned that I love Paris? I pinch myself every time I’m here that’s it’s real. Walking the streets and looking at all the amazing and historic buildings never gets old. We are here for 8 days and since Julie and I have both been here a number of times and seen all the most popular sites like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Versailles etc - our goal is to see the things we haven’t seen that you just can’t fit in on a 3 or even 4 day visit. And my personal goal is to slow down and enjoy more of the delicious food - which means taking the time to make dinner reservations at the great small local restaurants versus just grabbing a bite at a brasserie or cafe when I’m hungry. Those places are fun too and sitting outside offers wonderful people watching. So we have a plan for our time here but we’re keeping our options open and staying flexible.
In Nice, Avignon and Lyon we stayed in Airbnb’s, but in Paris we are in a small boutique hotel in the Marais. A nice benefit of being in a hotel is that breakfast is included, but since one of my favorite things in France is starting the day with a cappuccino and great croissant that I normally run out to the neighborhood boulangerie to pick up, I was apprehensive that it would be a disappointment. So you can imagine my delight when I came down to the breakfast the first morning and saw an incredible array of amazing items including perfect croissants and a coffee machine I would cut off my arm to have in my loft! The coffee machine first grinds the beans and then makes whatever you want. Espresso, cappuccino, latte, you can add extra hot milk, an extra shot of espresso etc. Fresh squeezed orange juice is also very big in France so they have a machine that does that as well. Meats, cheeses, muffins, regular croissants, chocolate croissants, even macarons - because it’s never too early to start eating cookies here😊
Good morning Paris!
Our hotel is conveniently less then a block away from 2 different Metro trains which makes it so easy for us to get anywhere in the city. Paris has one of the best if not the best public transportation systems in Europe, and as Rick Steves says - learn to use it! Plus it’s really inexpensive. Best to buy a carnet which is 10 individual tickets each good for a ride on a bus or the metro train. Easy to share with a companion as the tickets are all individual. Costs about 15 euros which makes each ride about 1.5 euros. If you buy the tickets individually they are 1.9 euros. So much cheaper then Uber or a taxi and much faster to get where you want.
Our first stop was the Cluny Museum. The Cluny is Middle Ages art in a very cool very old building in the 6th arrondissement that was a Roman bathhouse. It contains fine goldsmithing and ivory carvings from the 13th century along with stained glass windows from Saint-Chapelle and exquisite tapestries. Part of the museum is under renovation so it only cost 5 euros for entry and was well worth it.
Bottom left was from a collection of what they call caskets. Amazing handmade wooden boxes that had secret compartments in the lid. Many had beautiful art work decorating the insides. Middle pic is stained glass from Sainte-Chapelle.
From a set of 6 tapestries called “Lady and the Unicorn”
Next up a little shopping. We headed in the direction of one of the most beautiful department stores called Galleries Lafayette. Along the way we just happened to walk past Norte Dame and Saints-Chapelle, and I realized I had never seen Sainte-Chapelle from the outside. I’ve been inside a number of times to see the beautiful stained glass, but always been in such a hurry to get to the next site had never looked up to see the outside. It is surrounded by other buildings so you have to be in just the right spot to see it. The beauty of having extra time😊
Sainte-Chapelle is a Must See when in Paris!
Galleries Lafayette is a huge gorgeous department store that you could spend an entire day exploring. I’m not a huge shopper but it’s fun to browse, grab a delicious meal in their great cafeteria, and people watch.
The most beautiful Tiffany glass ceiling is over the enormous cosmetic department, and they added a clear walkway accessible from the 3rd floor to walk into the center of the dome and have a perfect view up and down. The line is quite long to do it as they only allow so many people on it at a time. They have bars, coffee shops and dessert places on every floor. Herme macaron anyone? I’ll take a caramel!
Next up after a stop at the hotel to freshen up - dinner at Cafe Des Musees. Suggested by a friend I had made dinner reservations here and it was as good as the recommendation. I can’t even tell you the last time I had beef to eat, but the menu said they had the best beef bourguignon in Paris - so we had to try it. Amazing! And the mashed potatoes were to die for. We called them whipped butter with a little potatoes thrown in - because that’s how they tasted. It was so warm and inviting inside, and the staff was so friendly and helpful. Don’t believe it when someone tells you the French are not friendly. We have had the total opposite experience.
The dessert tray was all so tempting we couldn’t decide. The 4 French people at the table next to us willingly gave us their opinion. Another example of how friendly the French really are😊
And the winner is…….lemon meringue to share! Magnifique!
A leisurely walk back to the hotel and another great day in the books. Pinch me! I’m really here💕