Back to the Light

To the City of Light, that is!  Wednesday morning, we caught the TGV from Bordeaux to Paris.  At close to 300 km per hour, it took only about 2 hours to get between the two cities.  

  

We arrived in Paris just after lunchtime and, as this was our last travel day together, it was also our last chance to see anything in Paris we had previously missed.  Once we had settled into our hotel, rehearsed my friend's way of getting to the airport, had a quick crepe lunch, we "blitzed" some of the remaining tourist spots in Paris.  So, from Les Halles, we walked to the Palais Royal to see the gardens there. 

From there, it was over to Place Vendome to see the Ritz and the Vendome Column.  The Place de la Madeleine was just a short walk from there.  The church is a huge and impressive building, as are the shops on the square which make it one of the top places for shopping in Paris.  Of course, I had to have a quick look in Fauchon, the famous "foodie" store to see what goodies could tempt me - none did but that was probably because of the prices! 

On our way to Place de l'Opera we popped into Gallerie Lafayette to see the fabulous ceiling.  After leaving the Opera, we thought about taking the Metro to our next destination which was Ile Saint Louis but somehow we just kept walking and walking and,, the next thing we knew, we were crossing the Seine and headed for a "happy hour" drink at a corner cafe.  It was hot and humid and I was very grateful for that carafe d'eau and panaches that I had.  Given the large area we had covered, no wonder we were thirsty and tired .  Between 1:30 and 6 pm we had walked over 25,000 steps!  My thought was that would justify the dinner we were going to have!

There is a little restaurant on Ile Saint Louis which, while it doesn't serve perfect food, the prices are good and I have always enjoyed eating there.  It is called Le Caveau de l'Isle and I have dined there often.  So, that was our pick for the last dinner of our French excursion.  Not sure why but the two older guys running the restaurant seemed to like us and gave us complimentary glasses of Amaretto after dinner.  Nice touch!  On the way back to our hotel in the Beaubourg area (not far from the Marais), we had to cross the Seine.  The evening sky was beautiful and made for some great photos.  There is a good reason Paris is called "The City of Light"!