Paris Friday

Time is starting to wind down here on our little Paris excursion.  To make the most of it, Mark and I got up a bit earlier this morning.  We ran around Luxembourg Gardens for some exercise and returned to the hotel for some breakfast.  This hotel is wonderful.  Each morning, the included breakfast offers yogurt, eggs, toast, cheese, fruit, cereal and pastries.   The attendant offers us coffee - mark orders "noir," black, and I get mine with Lait (milk).
We headed out, seeking the marche du puces (flea market), a 15-minute metro ride away.  Unfortunately, the fleas were 'ferme,' or closed today.  So we wandered around some of the antiques booths that were open or at least shifting their inventory this morning.  We found some incredible wrought iron light fixtures, but they won't fit in our suitcases.  :)
From there, we took a short train ride to reach Sacre Couer, a wonderful church that sits high above Paris.  It's great to stop there and look at the panoramas.  We walked down the hill toward Monmartre, an area that holds many fabric shops.  I am on a quest to find some fabric for Marlene, so I wanted to see what Montmartre has to offer today!  We dropped in to several stores, but I did not see anything I thought she would want.  These stores are very large, and yet I didn't see anything so special I thought Marlene would appreciate it.  I think Marlene needs to take a return trip for her own fabric shopping!  ( : D )
We ate lunch in an atypical restaurant, an unexpected pleasure given the preponderance of brasseries in Paris.  This restaurant specialized in food from the country - comfort food.  It has been chilly here, so we appreciated the chance to sit for a while, enjoying the warm comfort food.  I started with vegetable soup.  It was a puree'd soup, rather than a typical Amercian version with large chunks of vegetables still visible.  It was fantastic.  Mark ordered a "hot pot" full of beef and vegetable stew.  WOW!
Following our lunch, we had to walk some more since the restaurant would not allow me to take a nap!
We walked all the way to Gallerie Lafayette (an incredible department store) and Opera Garnier.  Gallerie Lafayette has an open atrium at its center, capped by an incredible stained glass dome.  Another WOW.  After buying a substitute present for Marlene in Gallerie Lafayette, we made our way over to Opera Garnier in hopes of seeing the stunning interior.  (I was lucky enough to take a tour a couple of years ago.  Mark has not seen it.)  We were told the building was not open for visitors at the time.  Ferme again!  Oh well.
We decided to continue our walk all the way to Notre Dame.  The sun was setting as we passed the Louvre and crossed a bridge over the Seine to the famous old church. It doesn't matter how many times you see Notre Dame (and the many old churches in Paris).  It is still every bit as stunning as the first time one approaches.  We stepped inside to find that a mass was starting soon.  We decided to stay and participate in the mass (I expect extra credit points from you, Dad!).  Though we did not understand any of the words, the Catholic Mass is built on the same rituals around the world, so it was somewhat easy to follow.  Sidenote:  I was freezing!  It must have been as cold inside as it was outside.  I don't think they had central heat in the 12th century.  They need to work on this....hee hee...
After Mass, we strode toward our hotel, planning to pick up a loaf of bread and some cheese to share in the lobby, a makeshift picnic dinner.  With so many incredible choices, we decided upon a small loaf of olive bread, a bit of camembert cheese, and some almonds to round out the picture.  Of course, we are sipping wine and glasses of water to make the evening complete.
Click on the photo below to view our experience today!

paris friday