Paris walking tour

Notre Dame
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Tuesday, October 9, 2007 / Miami to Paris:

Our journey began in Miami as we boarded Air France Flight #95 bound for Paris. We used Frequent Flier miles for the air portion of our trip, and fortunately we were able to get seats in business class. I had selected the first row of seats in the nose section of the 747 as no one would be walking back and forth by us during the flight. There were only 5 rows in our cabin and it was very private. A large pillow and blanket were awaiting us along with a flight kit with socks, eye mask, ear plugs, lotion etc. Dinner consisted of a lobster appetizer, steak, fruit tart, and cheese and fruit. Unlimited beverages of all kinds were available. We took a sleeping pill when dinner was served to ensure we would fall asleep shortly thereafter. I fell asleep before my plate was cleared. We got about 5 hours of sleep. There is a 6 hour time change from Miami to Paris.

Inside Notre Dame
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October 10, 2007 / Paris:

At 6:30am Paris time breakfast was served. We had egg crepes, fruit, rolls, and yogurt. We landed at 8am in pea soup fog, and due to airport construction, had to taxi 45 minutes before pulling up to the gate. Getting our luggage was uneventful...it was all there..and we walked right through customs. Our friend, Jen was waiting for us outside customs. It was so nice to see a familiar friendly face. Jen drove us to our hotel (Hotel Ibis) in the Republique District. We got settled in our room and took a short nap. Jen called us at 12:30 and we arranged to meet for lunch. We had lunch at the Savoye Cafe and then were off to see Notre Dame. We visited this magnificent church, whose Rose window is truly spectacular. Jen had to leave. We continued on walking along the Seine, then into the Marais District. We visited the beautiful gardens at the Paris History Museum, Victor Hugo’s home, and the Place de Vogges Park which was crowded with children playing, young people talking, people drawing or sunning themselves. We walked back to our hotel. The walk all together was fairly long which was good because we were afraid if we stopped we would fall asleep! We wanted to wait until 10pm to go to sleep so hopefully we could adjust to the new time. About 6pm we went to the Republique Square and sat in a café with a beer and coffee and people watched. At 8pm we went to La Marine for dinner. The restaurant was suggested by Jen and close to our hotel. Dinner was excellent. For an appetizer we shared a salad with greens and huge pieces of artichoke. For dinner Chris had a lamb shank and I had cod with vegetables. For dessert we shared pistachios in pastry with raspberry sorbet. The restaurant was in a beautiful setting with a canal across the street. We saw many people jogging and ridding their bikes past the restaurant. To sleep at 10pm as planned.

Rose Window Inside Notre Dame
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October 11, 2007 / Paris:

Jen called at 9:15. Fortunately we both got a good night sleep. We took the Metro to Concord (again with Jen’s excellent directions) and went to Lauderee to have a croissant and coffee. Chris had an almond croissant and I had chocolate (of course). Jen came to meet us at 11:15 and we were off for our walk along the Champs Elysees. it was fall in Paris, so the air was cool, and the leaves were changing colors and falling. As we walked by Louis Vuitton . Jen acted drawn to go into shop for some shoes. I was being silly and shielding her eyes and distracting her so she could not see the store. She stumbled and I said “Are you OK?” She said her shoes were falling apart and I said (without thinking), “Jen, you need new shoes!” We laughed so hard as she has closets full of shoes. We walked under the traffic circle at the Arch de Triumph. Then we took a little side street to walk along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. We had lunch at a small café, Le New York. Chris had tuna Nicoise and I had Hearts of Palm salad with some emmental cheese. We walked across the river to the Eiffel tower. There was a lot of activity with vendors and big screen TV’s as the World Cup Soccer Tournament was being played in Paris during the time we were there. We took the subway to see Jen’s boyfriend’s apartment and then took the subway to our hotel to get ready for dinner. With Jen’s excellent directions we took the subway to dinner. We ate at Le Grand Colbert. This restaurant was in the last scene of “Something’s Gotta Give.” Food was great and service was excellent. Prices were reasonable for Paris. For an appetizer Chris had fish soup and I had goat cheese in a pastry on top of greens. For dinner I had roasted lamp chops and Chris had grilled garlic lamb steak. Chris especially liked his dessert which was Amenera cherries, cherry sorbet and cherry liquor. I had molten chocolate cake. We walked back to the subway station and heard a lot of people chanting. As we got closer we saw dozens of Police cars and police bus’s. Again, dozens of Police appeared to be surrounding a group of people who were chanting on the sidewalk outside an apartment building/ We asked some locals what was going on and they said the chanters were illegal immigrant “squatters” as they were refusing to leave the apartment building. We never heard how this event ended. Back at the hotel, we packed and went to bed. Chris had a restless night. I slept pretty well.