Day 21: Paris

Today there was gruyere cheese for breakfast, stinky and wonderful.

There is a Mephisto shoe store just down the road from the hotel. I noticed their prices are half of what they are in the US. I thought I’d give it a try. The saleswoman was fantastic, so enthusiastic! They didn’t have my Helen sandal in the leather I wanted but she talked me into what she had. Then she told me (this is all in French, are you impressed?) that she had one sandal left in my size that I MUST get. And it was on sale! It was red. But my style guru Gail had told me that Parisian women were wearing bright colors so I took it as a sign. Now I own red sandals. Actually they look pretty good.

My wonderful friend, Ria, whom I met at the Cambridge summer session 7 years ago, came to Paris from her home in Utrecht to meet me. By the way, if you’re planning a trip to the Netherlands, skip Amsterdam and go right to Utrecht. It’s wonderful. I visited her there four years ago.

When she came into the lobby she looked exactly the same.

We plotted our day and started with a walk to the church of St.-Sulpice. It is the second largest church in Paris after Notre Dame. I thought it might be crowded because obviously Notre Dame isn’t taking visitors. It wasn’t at all. It is overwhelmingly large when you walk in. And dark.

It is also the church written about in The DaVinci Code. The Rose Line is in bronze on the floor and goes right up an obelisk which is lit up. The church knows it’s a tourist site. Ria, who used to come to Paris often when her brother lived here, said that for a few years after the book came out, there were crowds around the obelisk. Now, no one.

Ria found a quiet chapel and lit a candle for her father.

We were getting peckish and decided to walk towards the Luxembourg Gardens figuring there would be a cafe there. And there was Angelina’s. It’s know for the best hot chocolate in Paris. We looked at the menu then into the pastry case. The hell with lunch. And since there were two of us, we got to share two different pastries. One was strawberries and cream, the other was basically chocolate mousse enrobed in a chocolate shell. It was worth the high price and the skipping lunch! I don’t feel to badly about overindulging since there is NOTHING like this at home.

The gardens are huge and very beautiful.

While we were eating we discussed what to do the rest of the day. I was embarrassed to mention it but I suggested a bateau mouche ride on the Seine. It’s about the most touristy thing you can do in Paris. Ria started to laugh and said she was thinking the exact same thing!

We taxied over to the port near the Eiffel Tower and with several hundred other people we boarded the boat.

Tons of tourists were taking selfies. We commented on the fact that they actually weren’t seeing anything. Of course everyone was taking photos of Notre Dame in scaffolding.

We came back to the neighborhood where both our hotels are located and sat on the terasse (sidewalk) at Cafe Louise. We knew we should both order wine, but Coke light it was, along with a plate of cheese to share. Perfect. At some cafes, the terasse extends the whole way on the sidewalk to the street. No problem, just walk around it in the street with the cars and electric scooters racing by.

I went back to the hotel to put my feet up for an hour before we meet for dinner.

There is a famous restaurant, Le Relais de L’Entrecote, which just happens to be 2 blocks from the hotel. Just steak frites. No reservations. We met there and waited about 20 minutes before being shown to a small table. You just tell the server rare, medium or well done. We got a green salad to begin, then 3-4 slices of steak and a mound of fries. After you’re done, the server comes with the rest of your steak and another mound of fries. The sauce on the steak makes it doubly delicious, there’s mustard in it, but the recipe is a secret. People were having big ice cream concoctions but we were much too full.

We wandered back to my hotel, we had about an hour before being picked up for a deux cheveaux tour of Paris.

Our driver came at 10 and off we went. These cars are no longer being made and with good reason. It’s like riding in a sardine can.

The driver was very nice, asked us where we wanted to go and we asked if we could go up to Montmartre. So we did.

It’s a long ride. On the way we passed both the Comedie Francaise and the Opéra where people dance at night. The neighborhoods are so different from central Paris, narrow winding streets, some quite gritty. We saw all the famous spots, Moulin Rouge, the building that was the Bateau Lavoir where the (much later) famous Paris artists worked, and there is an actual vineyard up there, too.

And of course Sacre Coeur church. It’s a madhouse on a Saturday night, lots of people drumming, chanting making noise.

On the way back, we had a great look at the Eiffel Tower sparkling.

I’m tired, time for bed.
Love,
Lynn