Day 5: Paris…What a Wonderful World….

Just steps from our hotel door we found a wonderful patisserie where we had breakfast. I took us 10 minutes to decide what we wanted only wished we were staying longer so we could try everything. Drew had the breakfast of champions – a brownie!! (Don’t worry mom, she also shared Papaw’s quiche.)

First up on our list was Notre Dame. We arrived to find a huge line in front of the cathedral but it was moving very fast so we joined and made our way inside. The interior was beautiful and, like other European cathedrals, we find it surreal that we are standing where so much history was made and just imagine all those from the past who have stood right where we are. We finished our walk around the inside in time to meet out front for the ?Paris walks, a free walking tour which I had read were the best of the free walking tour companies. Bertrand was our guide and was fabulous. He said he was filling in for the regular person who had an emergency. Our walk took us all the way around Notre Dame and included pointing out some of the outer buildings which were used as living quarters and places of learning.

After our tour, we strolled along the street across from Notre Dame and did some shopping at the artist’s stands along the sidewalk. There are many booths set selling art, books and souvenirs. After buying that trinket we absolutely could not live without, we headed across the river to the next island where the supposed best ice cream is made. We all tried something different and it was all very good.

We next went in search of another Parisian landmark, the Shakespeare & Company bookstore. As we had a pretty good map, it wasn’t much trouble to find and we walked straight to it. The bookstore is incredible. It is a small two-story building absolutely full of books on about any subject imaginable. It began as a bookstore where American students could find English language books and there are certainly many for them to choose from.

After we made our book purchases, we made our way to the Latin Quarter with the intention of just looking around. We were met with wide varieties of aromas coming from the many restaurants which were lined up on the first floor of many buildings. Most of them had a host standing out front urging the tourists to come in and try theirs. We decided to walk over to St Chapel church where Harry and Diann had gone and collect them and go back for supper. After walking to the end of the island, we discovered we had missed a turn and went down the other side to the street where the church was located. We found them there and headed back to the Latin quarter.
Walking along the restaurants, we picked one out and allowed the hostess outside to escort us in. All of us except Stacy ordered from the set tourist menu which included a starter, a main dish and a dessert. Stacy opted for the fondue which was plates of bread, potatoes and meat along with a pot of cheese heated over a flame. We all tried hers and it was very good. Drew was the daring one and she ordered the escargot for a starter. We had tried them before and weren’t sure she would like them but she loved them. She was a little squeamish with the first one but after getting it out of the shell and tasting it, she went after them like a pro. We all were pleased with our choices and had a nice meal.

Our original plan was to visit the Louvre tonight because it was one of the nights it is open late and I had read less crowded. As our time in Paris was so short we decided we needed to do a little more shopping and just walked around instead. We did end up at the Louvre to see the pyramid and get some photos from the outside. We waited for it to get dark then took a Seine river cruise which we enjoyed very much. We missed a lot of the sights we had intended to see, but we have a ball just wondering around and laughing all evening. At one point we say down on a bridge to rest and Drew had a ball waving at the passing boats counting how many people would wave back. We saw a lot of flashes going off from those on the boat taking pictures of her.

This video pretty much sums up our day: