Saturday, Sept. 29th
Day Trip #17

Up at 6:00 for meds for Tim & p. juice for me. Officially up at 7:15.

Weird shower – no doors or curtain, so water goes on floor.

Meet Don & Deb at 8:30, Tim is finally out of A-fib, thank goodness.

Off to breakfast at Café Bonaparte on Rue Bonaparte & Place Eglise St. Germain! Deb & Tim & I have English breakfast. Tim & I often came here in ’09. The price has gone up to 16€.  Fresh squeezed OJ, decaf café au lait, pancake w/ raspberry jelly, 2 fried eggs (soft) nestled on thin slices of ham, & salad with bals. dressing. Don a ham & chs. omelette.

Back to the hotel, where Tim has the manager make a reservation for the shuttle to the airport on Monday. On that day, we leave here around 11:15 am. for a 3:30 flight. About a one hour drive. 18€ each.

Back to the room for vitamins & teeth & to make plans for the day.

It is a sunny day & a bit warmer in the am than it was in Pommard.

Emails from Peg, Kriss & Gina. Nice to hear from people.

We set off again to walk to the Seine, & each buy a ticket on Paris L’Open Tour Bus, & we meet the bus just off Pont Neuf. The bus has earphones you plug in & switch a dial to which language you want. We pay 34€ each for 2 days. It’s a hop-on-hop-off tour w/ 3 different choices of loops. We take the western one first & see Notre Dame Cathedral, Musee D’Orsay, Place de Concorde with its Egyptian Obelisk, the Champ Elysee & the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower & Trocadero, & Les Invalides & the Rodin Museum. The ear phones allow you to hear a running commentary of what you’re seeing (& some French music) & the history of the area. We exit towards St. Germain des Pres to try to find a place to eat. The first place we stop is too expensive -- 15€ for just a hamburger alone. We move on to find another place. Deb & I are so cold from being on the top of the windy bus, we can’t wait to have warm tea or soup. We find a place & are seated in a booth. Don: Salmon club sandwich w/ frites. Me: Same as Don & hot mint tea & hot onion soup; Deb – tea, onion soup & she never gets the grilled sandwich she orders, cause the waiter is disorganized. He did charge it to us though, & Tim has to ask him to take it off the bill; Tim – hamburger & frites.

Champs-Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe

view from top of Arc de Triomphe

another patisserie

the Obelisk

            Afterwards, we decide to shop, since the stores will be closed tomorrow & we need some gifts. We head to the bowels of St. Germain des Pres, which is incredibly busy and crowded. Locals & tourists. Fabulous fashion, shoes, boots & hair. And everyone wears a decorative scarf around their neck. Tim’s comment later in the day is: “I think they even wear their scarf to bed!” Both men & women don them, We try to shop around, but it is hard, so the two couples decide to split up & meet again in 1 ½ hrs. I eventually buy a scarf for Gina (& me) at Zara. Tim & I bonk. We are so tired that we head back to the room to rest. Don’t know if maybe we’re dehydrated after not much water today.

We meet Don & Deb again at 4:30 & sit at a sidewalk café to enjoy the views & have a drink. (Waiters wear colored overalls w/ change purses in the pocket, attached w/ a small chain to their overalls.) Tim even has a chocolate creamy cake, which the waiter knocks my arm & a taste drops on my pants & scarf & purse. He immediately apologizes & brings hot water to clean it with. We are seated next to 4 young girls who smoke. (Smoking illegal inside, but permitted outside.) We are also seated next to 2 young men who look like they were lifted from a Renoir or Monet ptg. – one with a small beard & one a beard, bushy hair & a great handlebar mustache he twists from time to time. The views from our seats are so Parisien & so fascinating – tall women, attractive older & younger couples, couples w/ babies all dressed to the “teeth” in the most current fashions & shoes, & bags. Lowering sun makes for beautiful lite on this nice weather day – comfortable when you’re not riding on the top of a windy, open bus.

            Back to the hotel to rest, have snacks & some wine. From the balcony of our room we can see very long lines across the street – Hermes Paris, very slow & very expensive (Don had previously gone in & checked the place out.) We do go in later & they have lovely decorative pastries, chocolates & cakes.

We leave around 8:00 to head back to Rue de Buci to have some ice cream. We settle on Berthilon which is delicious – caramel & amaretto praline for me & Tim – dark choc. & vanilla - 10€ Tim thinks. I have a splitting headache, so we head back to the hotel to go to bed.