Yesterday was no different. In fact, it was probably a typical day for us when we travel.
We woke up around 6am, although Therese had been awake for a few hours already. We sleep in for a bit, but then I decide I want to go for a run. Therese joins me and we agree to meet on the Pont des Arts (where all the Padlocks are fastened to the bridge fences (there are 10,000's of them, all with messages of undying love).
We set out around 7am, and I start running along the Seine and cross the Pont des Arts heading towards the Ile de la Cite. I ran for about 20 minutes and meet up Therese on the bridge and we decide to go for a bit of a walk. We cross the river and walk into the gardens around the Louvre Museum. We decide to head towards Place de la Concorde and tempted to then walk to the Eiffell tower . . but a call of nature forces us to return to the apartment on Rue de Lille.
After a shower and some breakfast, we head to the offices to pick up our Paris Passes - we prepurchased 4 day passes from Sydney, but had to pick them up from their offices in Rue des Jeunues.
Well, Google advice of a 23 minute walk turned into more like a 45 minute walk (my eyes are not good, and I tend to stumble into things (and people)), and once the passes are in our hot little hands, we decided to have coffee somewhere local.
We pick a nice local Boulangerie / natural food shop thing - looked good from the outside and seemed busy - and tried to order the Petit Dejeuner from the menu (7.5 Euros) . . . . but we ended up getting Tea, Coffee (scores 2 out of 10) and some bread (bagguette) . . .nothings else. Nada. No butter (beurre), no jam (confiture). Did we complain ? noooo, Just sat there, enjoying the dry bread (we thought it was what the locals did ?)
During this time, we had a discussion on how to best use our 4 day Paris Passes . . . . and couldn't decide except to go to the Louvre Museum.
On the way to the Louvre, we discovered what we thought was where Angelina Jolie (Elise Ward) in The Tourist (co star, Johnny Depp) probably our most favourite movie of all time) had breakfast in the opening scenes. We played the movie later on and confimed that we had found the right cafe. We are now planning our next day and will come here to saviour the moment.
Back to the Louvre, Our Paris Passes get us through the first gate (without waiting in queues) and when we get inside (under the glass pyramid) was are blown away by the crowds. We get through the second check point with ease (just showing our passes) and we feel good (about spending all of that money on the Paris Passes).
The Louvre may be a great museum, but it takes a lot of patience and a love of their specific art. They don't have a couple of examples of each item, they have galleries full of it. We find the Grand Gallery and have another perv at the Mona Lisa and decide to move on.
We walk along the Seine to the Latin Quarter - to enjoy a well deserved break - and have some lunch. This was the lunch where my phone was stolen - pissed me off big time - by a bunch of street kids . . . I spend at least 45 minutes looking around for them before we asked some local gendarmes where the nearest police station was (so that we could report the theft for insurance purposes). The process took around 90 minutes, not too painful.
When finished at the police station, we decided to make use of our Paris Passes and climb up the Notre Dame towers. What a fantastic view ! And to think that this church was built in 1163 !
There are around 400 stairs to get up (both levels) and then another 400 to get down, of course. Good exercise !
Once on the groun, we decide to have another break (read coffee stop) and just around the corner from the Notre Dame cathedral we find this Pattiserie that sells the biggest Palmiers one has ever seen ! This photo does not do it justice !
And yes, it was very nice.
We got a coffee and tea in the same cafe we were in 4 years ago (across the road from St Chapelle) .
By the way, the coffee's in France taste very different to the coffee's (Flat Whites, Capuccinos) that we have in Australia. In my humble opinion, the French don't seem to know how to make nice coffee !
After our coffee, we walk along Ile de la Cite across to Ile de St Louis - where we know there are many ice cream shops. Of course, I have to have one !
After the ice cream, we cross one of the bridges into the Marais Quarter - meander through the small streets (Jewish section) and end up in the Place Pompidou . We decide to use our Paris Passes to enter the Pompidou museum (floors 4 and 5) and look around at some of the modern (very modern) art, including a number of Picassos.
By the time we are finished at the Pompidou, it is getting dark so we decide to walk home. It is by now after 9.30 pm, so we decide to go to the local MonoPrix (supermarket) and buys some milk, bread, ham, etc, so that we could have a simple dinner in our apartment, on the verandah, as the sun sets.
A long day ? 16 hours, sure. Tiring ? sure, probably walked 12+ kms. Satisfying ? Absolutely.
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