Sunday, August 21
Beautiful day – cool, about 65 degrees. Started our day at Solemn High Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. This has to be one of the greatest cathedrals in the world. The chair was magnificent and the organ finale gave us goose bumps. We climbed to the tower and looked over Paris up with the gargoyles in the roof top – truly scary for me but a sight I wouldn’t want to miss. Then to the Louvre to see “Mona Lisa,” “Winged Victory” and “Venues de Milo” to name a few of the thousands. People also in the thousands. We cut through the Tuilleries – lovely gardens, to the Champs Elysees. Almost forgot the unforgettable Saint Chappelle where we walked after Mass right on Ile de Cite. It is truly a beautiful chapel – built to have the relic Croure of thorns.
After the Tuilleries, we walked up Champs Elysees to the Arch de Triomph. Such a beautiful boulevard with gardens on each side until you get close to the Arch where you have beautiful shops and arcades. There were thousands of people strolling along and many sitting in sidewalk Brasseries watching the parade.
We are really walked out. Dinner at Restaurant Thoumieux 79 Rue St. Dominique Paris VII. Very good – Very reasonable. 171 F for two. Prices most places very expensive:
$2.00 bottle of water
$3.00 wine glass
$1.50 cake
café au lait $3.00
Monday August 22
After our usual La Bourbonnais breakfast of croissant and café au lait, we headed for the metro to find the velo shop. Monday is a holiday for 50 % of the businesses and due to the fact that many vacation in August, the combination finds things very quick. Poulaine was closed – the bread shop we travelled across Paris to see and we couldn’t find a velo shop open at all so off to Hediards, the delicatessen. It is another superb food shop and we really enjoy that part of town for shopping. We walked Rue Faubourg de Honore, most expensive shops in Paris. This is fabulous shopping for millionaires. We saw the changing of the guard at President Mitterrand’s’ home on Rue Faubourg de Honore also, and had lunch at a little brasserie – ou Place de la Madeline. The women are beautiful. Their clothes and make-up, perfection. It was fun just to “people-watch.” I went into Hermes to price and shop for a scarf and they were there deep to buy scarves at 800 F = $150.00.
It was an easy day. We stopped at Hotel Maurice on Rue Rivoli and for thé at Angelinas on Rivoli. That street is the tourist trap of Paris and we didn’t waste anytime there. We changed for dinner and ate at Le Petit Champ de Mars, which was terrific. The salad was delicious and unusual. A bed of endive lettuce surrounded by chunk tomatoes and grated zucchini, had fried chicken levies and apple slices topped with mustard vinaigrette. Then beef stroganoff, rice, and zucchini. Finished with citron sorbet and thé.
A fun day – great dinner! Weather cool, cloudy – about 70 degrees.
No comments:
Post a Comment