Final Thoughts

This will be my final post for this trip. Tomorrow we leave for the airport to begin the trip home. We have had a wonderful time, but I think we both are ready to get back home again too. I miss my bed, my dog, my friends and family (not in that order). But before I end this story, I have a few more observations and notes.

To the people of Europe: Nice job on the toilet flushing options. Now could you please consider window screens?

To the dog owners of Paris: You've really made progress on the dog poop issue here, but it seems not everyone has received the message. Spread the word. And I think all of you who take your dogs to the cafes should be commended. They are so very well behaved and sit patiently while you eat.

Although some dogs need something to occupy their time while they wait (like a plastic box).

To the French vendors and cooks who handle our food: I'm ok that you hand me my baguette or my sandwich with your hands and then take my money and then handle more food. Or that you pat down my crepe with your bare hands and then flip it over. I know Americans are germaphobes. Just promise me that occasionally you wash your hands. Maybe even more than occasionally. 

To all the restaurant and shop owners: I'm very aware of music in restaurants and stores, and when it doesn't match with the food and ambiance of the place, it is weird for me. We heard American Country Western music in an Italian restaurant in London, Copacabana in a Paris cafe, and Uptown Funk in a Paris market. I don't expect O Solo Mio to be playing in every French Cafe, but there must be another alternative.

To the beautiful young woman who was flying through the streets of Montmarte on a scooter whistling: Bravo!

To the owners of Colectivo and Fiddleheads: You might try what they do here in France. Customers pay more if they sit down and drink their coffee. And they allow you only 60 minutes of free WiFi. This might discourage those people who park at a table for an 8-hour work day with their laptops and monopolize the space. (And also, could you please start making Flat Whites?)

To all the future travelers who will visit London and Paris: If you have a smart phone, take the time to learn what apps are available for you to use while you visit these cities. You will be so glad that you did. CityMapper and CityMaps2Go saved me from joining the gaggle of people standing around with unfolded maps trying to figure out where they were. And don't be afraid to use public transportation. It's part of the overall experience of traveling in that city and seeing how the locals live.

To all future travelers to France: The French really do like their greetings. It's not hard to say Bonjour when you walk into a store or start a conversation with anyone. Don't do what we saw another American do in a market and just start off with "English???"

And finally....

To the people in all of London and France who we encountered on this trip: Thank you for welcoming us to your country. Thank you for understanding when we didn't communicate very well. Thanks for understanding our sign language and our crazy French (I really think I started one conversation by saying "I am English".) And (with the exception of the woman who made our coffee in the market yesterday) for smiling at us and making us feel like you're glad we're here. We had a ball.

OK, Paris. Give Us Your Best Shot!

So, Paris, you've given us fabulous food, near-perfect weather, beautiful architecture, and more photo opps than we could have hoped for. What else can you give us on our last day to make us fall in love with you?

And Paris delivered. She gave us another sunny blue-sky day and started us off with perfect croissants. Then she streamed that sunshine through the windows of Saint Chapelle, gave us a small private parade, and later forced Greg to eat his final and best caramel eclair. What a perfect way to end our stay here.

I visited Saint Chapelle many years ago, and I remember being awed by the windows along with everyone else who enters the chapel. But it was fun to see Greg's face as he saw them for the first time. We spent over an hour there taking pictures and just sitting on the edges of the room looking up. They are incredible. Greg took some really interesting photos, but here are just a few that I pulled out (unedited).

Advice for future visitors of Saint Chapelle: The doors open at 9:30 AM. We arrived at 9:15, and there were already 30 or so people in line, but it moves pretty quickly once the doors open. The first line is just to go through security, and then you will walk to the area where you buy your ticket. When you enter the building, go immediately upstairs. The downstairs is nice, but if you have arrived early to avoid the crowds, start with the second level.

We did some rambling around Notre Dame and the islands before heading across one of the bridges.

I know these locks are very controversial now, and we never would put one up and add to the problem. But they actually are kind of cool to look at.

And this was when we heard horses clomping down the street, and we looked up to see a small parade - just for us (and a few others).

And a street artist who had drawn a picture - just for us.

After lunch and Greg's final eclair, we walked through the Tuileries Garden which was full of people enjoying the sunshine and the scenery. (And what were all of them doing there on a Monday at 2:00? Don't they have to be at work?)

The Musee L'Orangerie was on my list of places to visit because during my last trip it was under renovation. Greg reluctantly came with me, and I'm glad we went even if we didn't spend much time there. It was hard to go into a museum when there were park benches right outside that begged you to sit down and relax. We've spent a lot of time on our feet, so we enjoyed ourselves for a while looking out over the Place de la Concorde.

I had read about an area in the 10th Arrondissement that has a nice canal area with some cafes and restaurants so we headed there next. There's a nice path along the canal, and lots of people were outside enjoying themselves. We just sat and people watched for a while and then headed home.

Our last dinner - last Paris dinner and last vacation dinner - was at Le Villerat just north of our apartment a few blocks. It's another small, out-of-the-way kind of place that you only hear about online or through friends. I chose it because it was close to our apartment, I could book it online through The Fork, and it had excellent reviews. It was probably our most expensive meal in Paris, and while it was very good, it couldn't compare to the first two. But we enjoyed ourselves and spent the meal reliving other meals during the past month.

An amuse bouche of mushroom soup:

Followed by white asparagus soup. It was interesting how they served it to us with the asparagus and small croutons in a bowl and then poured the hot soup on top of it.

Then Greg had a huge veal chop, and I what they called a "piece" of veal but I would call it a filet of veal. Mine also came with a creamed cauliflower that was wonderful but looks like a big yucky glob in this picture.

We skipped dessert and walked home in the rain. Total bill was about 127E and included a bottle of wine. A very nice final dinner, and I'm sure we'll be in bed before 10.  We have a long day tomorrow.

So Au Revoir, Paris. You did your job and you did it well. We love you.

Three Markets and then Montmarte

Last night as we wandered around, Greg took a few more photos of storefronts after they had closed just to see how different they might look. We think we might like some of them better.

That last one is our favorite so far.

Sundays are a big market day in Paris, so we decided to visit some and at the same time, see a different part of the city. Plus Sunday nights many restaurants close so we thought we'd buy some things for dinner too.

But first a few deviations. Our favorite local boulangerie was not just closed but damaged! I don't know if a car ran into the side of it or what happened but part of it is boarded up. Whatever will we do? I guess we'll just have to walk a few more blocks to get our breakfast. Darn. Next we tried to get on a bus to our first stop but there was a sign posted in French that said something about a race being held today and how the bus lines would be affected. A nice woman tried to explain it to us but she just confused us more. So we headed to the Metro and hoped it still worked.

The Rue Mouffetard Market on the Left Bank was where we started. The street is lined with shops and you can buy produce, pastries, breads. It was a nice market, but seemed to be geared mostly towards tourists.

Just around the corner was a market in Place Monge. It was more of a mix of locals and tourists, and had a greater variety of things. Everything looked temptimg, but we just bought some salted almonds.

We decided to try to find the Cremerie in the St Germain area that I photographed our first day here. We kind of remembered where it was, but my CityMapper app remembered our route and we found it without a problem. Unfortunately, it was closed, but even with the panels covering it, it was still interesting.

And along the way, we found a few more we liked including the restaurant where we ate a few nights ago.

Are you bored with store fronts, yet?

It's been several weeks now since we found a Flat White, those wonderful coffee drinks we lived on in London. But we found them today at Costa Coffee. We like their coffee, their WiFi, and their bathrooms. And they're scattered all over London and Paris. We do prefer the local bars for coffee, but sometimes you have to go with what you know. (Rule #1 in Paris: Never pass up a bathroom.)

Next stop was the market on Richard Lenoir close to the Bastille. This market is held every Thursday and Sunday, and it's gigantic! And today it was completely packed with people, almost all of whom were locals. It's easy to spot the best produce stands because that's where the line of Parisian women are standing. We bought some peaches, apricots, and strawberries for breakfast, and then found a roast chicken for our dinner. This has been our standard go-to dinner when we are eating at home. It's easy and it's been consistently good, and it comes with amazing potatoes.

After a few minutes of rest during lunch, we took the metro to the Montmarte area. When I was here years ago, this was the one area where I didn't feel comfortable. My friend and I went to Sacre Coeur, and the area around it just seemed tacky and the shopkeepers were pretty aggressive. But this time, I found it to be a little funky with winding cobblestone streets and interesting cafes and shops. There were a ton of people there milling around, but we followed the crowds and enjoyed the afternoon. Here's a man singing with a dog wrapped around his neck, and sometimes the dog sings along.

OK, NOW are you sick of store fronts?

Everyone seemed to be out in the beautiful weather sitting in cafes, so we decided to join them. We stopped for a Kir. Greg had blueberry and I had raspberry. They taste kind of like fruit punch to me, but they were cold and sweet and tasted really good.

One last store front. This is one that I took because Greg didn't like it. But I thought it was very typical of this crazy area.

A few random observations..

We've had an interesting Metro day. We've been entertained on a couple of our trips. The first was a man who played the accordion for us, and the second was a woman who had a microphone and some kind of battery with a speaker and she sang. Both asked for money which is awkward because they certainly have a captive audience. It didn't look like either of them received much money. We also had four uniformed Metro employees step into our car and ask for our tickets. I thought this was interesting because in the short time we've been here, we've seen several people sneak past the turnstiles. Fortunately, Greg had saved our tickets so I'm not writing this from Metro jail.

We have seen many people asking for money here. It makes me uncomfortable most of the time. But not when we saw a guy who was sitting on the sidewalk with a paper cup attached to a fishing pole, and he was dangling it in front of people as they walked by. That was just bizarre.

I've been trying to wear my FitBit while we're on this trip. When we were in London, we were amazed at how far we walked each day, and now in Paris we find the same thing. Today we walked over 17,000 steps. The hardest steps are the ones at the end of the day up to the 5th floor and our apartment. (The highest score goes to a busy day in London with over 26,000.)

One last thing. This is for you, BB. No wonder you love French food.

Tomorrow... our last full day in Europe. If you're still reading this, thanks for hanging in there.

I Can't Believe I Forgot to Wear My FitBit!

Today we walked. And walked. We also took the Metro and a bus. We covered a lot of ground and saw a lot of Paris, and found some beautiful old storefronts here. We had noticed a few of them when we were in Rue Cler, and are now in search of more. So here are just a few of the unedited photos we took today.

After resting for a bit in the apartment, I walked over to Pere LaChaise Cemetery while Greg read a bit and relaxed. The Cemetery is just a few blocks from our apartment, and it is huge! Much larger than i anticipated! But if a cemetery can be cool, this one is. And lots of famous folks are there. I had printed a map that I found online before we came, but they also sell them there. You need a map. Even with my map and an adequate sense of direction, I got lost several times.

My first stop was to say hello to Jim Morrison. I felt I needed to tell him that the girl next door to me in my freshman dorm had played "Light My Fire" until I hated it. Jim's grave is easy to find.

Next I thought I'd stop and see Oscar Wilde seeing that we have the same name. Poor Oscar is encased in plastic now since his grave was constantly being covered in lipstick kisses. You now can see that his fans now kiss the plastic instead. I wish I understood the meaning of the sculpture with the arms. Does anyone know?

I found Edith Piaf, but searched in vain for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas who are buried together. It is really hard to walk around these cobblestone walkways with lots of people holding maps doing the same thing. The graves are so close to each other that they are almost on top of one another. Fascinating. I was a bit afraid that I might not find my way out, but when I finally did, I was miles from home.

We were not successful in our attempt to have a second dinner at Restaurant L'Ange 20. We knew that getting in without a reservation on a Saturday night would have taken a miracle. We're just glad we had the experience once. We ended up at Le Gai Moulin, a place around the corner that was just OK. In fact, it was kind of "meh".

The night was beautiful and so we joined the rest of Paris as we walked around, looking at the people sitting in cafes and admiring the sunset over the Seine.