Another day (or days) in my Paris life

Bonsoir!

Well, we have been busy, busy!  I last left you Monday evening after our day at the Louve.  Tuesday was rather adventuresome.  We started the day on the Hop On Hop Off bus tour.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Hop On Hop Off concept, it is exactly that.  The bus is double decker so you can sit on top and take pictures or be inside bus enjoying the ride.  Since it was rather chilly and rainy we elected to stay inside.  The bus went all over Paris, from the Musee D'Orsay where we picked it up at  to the Opera House, thru Champs Ellysee to Arc to Eiffel to Louve to Notre Dame, where we ended.   We lit candles, enjoyed a portion of mass, signed the guest book and just enjoyed the moment.  We decided not to do the Towers since it was quite drizzly and we were short on time.  We had a mission!  Andy and I ventured onto the RER, one of Paris' many rail systems.  Once we figured out what gate to go thru and that the ticket machine spit your ticket back out for you to use for the day, we were off.......we got to the nearest station to the Eiffel Tower and walked the rest of the way.  We found it!!!! So we went back and got ready to go again for dinner at the Eiffel Tower. 

I must say that my the time we were seated for dinner we were soaked!  The ride up to the restaurant was painless and the view was spectacular, even thru the rain clouds.  Thanks to Mike and Michele, my trusty arrangers of the dinner, we had very prime location seating front and center at a window.

The food was wonderful and as we made our way back to the tram after dinner the poor waiter came chasing after us!  "Oh madam, you forgot something" he said as he placed his hand over his mouth in embarrassment.  Apparently, even though we had paid our dinner well in advance we did not receive a voucher so management had to look up our payment, so back to the dining area we go until it was cleared up. 

Wednesday we took the RER (now that we are pros) to Versailles and spent the day viewing the splendor and oppulence that it brings.  Many, many pics were taken and hopefully some day I can get them off the camera onto the computer. After Versailles we sent to the Pantheon and wondered around St Michel area. 

We took a short break at the apartment to catch a second wind.  The weather was so wonderful we decided to just walk along the Seine.  We walked for quite some time and went across a beautiful bridge.  We found an area over near Pont Neuf that was  hopping so we went to dinner at Cafe Pont Neuf.  I had a wonderful salad of walnuts, goat cheese on toast with tomatoes and greens.  Fabulous!  Dessert was a wonderful gateau Chocolat.  Andy had steak and frites with creme brulee for dessert.......anyone who knows us knows that the desserts were backwards for our typical choices.  Wonderful service with one of the waiters being a comic, albeit in french.  Still good for a laugh!

Today (Thursday) started us out on the Parisian Bateaux with a follow up to lunch at Laserre.  Laserre was by far the most wonderful (and expensive) lunch either of us have ever had.  This was so upscale I was afraid to take out my camera and capture the moment. I just sat back and enjoyed.  The lunch started with an elevator ride up in the smallest elevator I ever was in.  We entered a room that was magnificent where the rooftop opened periodically to the open air and a topiary (I did get the nerve to hide my camera and snap a quick pic).  I had fois gras, leg of lamb served with legumes, figs and some other things with a dessert that was puff pastry filled with caramel with caramel flavored something or other and all was shaped like a kings crown. Andy had lobster bisque, leg of lamb and dessert of choc something or other.  I had the most expensive (yet esquisite) glass of wine (25E) that I will ever have.  Only in France!!!!!  After all that, we were give a plate of madelines and a silver tray of chocolates to enjoy along with our cafe creme and tea.  All in all, the most expensive and worth every penny!

 We then decided to go to the Arc and venture down Champs Ellyssee a bit.  Andy saw a Tiffanys out the Hop Off Hop On window and we really wanted to go there.  We get to Arc and low and behold CLOSED!!!! July 11th is a big big day in France and there are ceremonies galore.  The Arc was closed for about 2 hours or so and will be again tomorrow morning.  So we started down the Champs to find Tiffanys.  On and On we went.......no Tiffanys.  We ended up walking almost to the very end, which is quite far.  We decided to just keep walking and go to the Musee D'Orsay since its open late Thursday evenings.  Another wonderful museum containing impressionism art and some of the most wonderful Art Nouvoeau furniture, etc.  Exhausting yet worth every minute!  We took the RER back to our stop and walked to a sandwich shop, got something to bring home and here we are......comatose!  We are already planning another adventure for tomorrow!

Until then, a bientot!