Paris
Trip Start
Apr 30, 2008
1
19
20
Trip End
May 20, 2008
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Monday, May 19, 2008
We walked over to the Cathedral Notre Dame and I climbed up to the bell tower. You got to get really close to the gargoyles which was cool. We walked inside the cathedral and admired the detail put into the church. Especially knowing how old it is and the workmanship that was put into it. We walked over to Ile de la Cite which was a let down. When I was there 10 years ago I remember it to be more lively and had better shops. Maybe I hit it on a bad day, or maybe that it was Sunday and everything was shut down.
The book booths along the Seine were very cool. We loved browsing through the old books, albums and other antiques. It started to rain so we wound our way over to a cafe for some lunch to wait out the rain. We walked to the Musee D'Orsay which has got to be my favorite gallery I have ever seen. The third floor collection had the nicest paintings and I could have spent a whole afternoon looking at them, but the crowds drove me insane! There were tons of Monets, Van Goghs (nicer than the museum in A'dam) and Renoirs.
We walked around the Latin Quarter and enjoyed the buildings and surroundings. The concierge was very interesting and we got to see the cell where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before she was beheaded. Next door was St Chapelle which was breathtaking. When you walk in you are in a big room that looks like plain church. I thought that was it and I was wondering what all the fuss was about. We followed a few people into another room and we were immediately captivated by the stained glass windows that surrounded the church.
We wondered over to Luxembourg Gardens and grabbed some crepes. Hartley and I can't get enough of the crepes. Banana chocolate crepes are amazing! We relaxed by the fountains there and enjoyed the band playing close by. We would have liked to have relaxed there some more, but it was pretty cold and we kept moving to warm up. We headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.
We went to a really good falafel restaurant that was a few blocks away and then went to a cool wine/book store called La Belle Hortense. Have you ever had a moment when everything in the world seems so perfect that you get all goose-bumpy and teary eyed? I had one of those here. We were drinking wine at the bar and the place was one of those places that you dream of running and owning one day. Comfortable, relaxed and hip. They were playing some great music in the background and the waitress was cleaning glasses and singing quietly to the song (in French of course!). Everyone around us was quiet and seemed enthralled by this moment as well. After the song I remembered turning to Hartley and saying "I just had a moment". He called me a freak. Got to love him. He doesn't get my "moments".
After that bar we went to another great bar to continue our drinking (I am sure you are reading this blog thinking I have a problem with alcohol and pastries, but it IS the European thing to do!) This place had old ratty furniture that when you sit in it your knees are by your face...it also played great hip music (very Morcheeba like) and it was kind of those places that if I lived there I would be a regular. La Belle Hortense wouldn't be good, I would be crying all day and be called a freak! We wondered over back to a bar/restaurant beside our hotel -Dome-and I had some wine and Hartley ordered a beer. The waiter asked him what size, and Hartley asked for a medium. The waiter comes back with a HUGE glass (keg?) of beer and charged him $26 dollars for the beer!
We stumbled around Paris giggling at everything and anything and walked over to the Cathedral again because we love it so much at night. We sat at ANOTHER cafe and ordered more wine. By the end of the night we spent around 100 dollars on alcohol. It was a very fun night!
