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Published: January 24th 2010
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Notre deuxième jour à Paris, our second full day in Paris.
It was cold. So cold that I am sorry to say that I'm slightly miserable. And nothing is open in Paris on New Years Day. Double problem: I'm cold and I have no where to go.
You wouldn't think I'd ever say that in Paris. But it's true. It sucks.
We started our day okay enough... woke up and took the metro down to Concorde where we walked the Tuileries Garden and ended up at the Louvre. The garden was nice, but in winter... it's cold and bare. I can tell from its skeleton that it would be a very pleasant place to sit with a bottle of wine and a baguette (freshly purchased from Maison Laurent, the delicious little boulangerie Keith and I have been frequenting every morning, bien sûr) and admire the surroundings, but as it was, freezing metal chairs and bare trees was hardly what I called pleasant.
So we carried on to the glass pyramid courtyard in the Louvre - the world-renowned major palace turned museum complex. I had no desire really to go at the start of the trip, and actually
even with the major cold spell I was experience that was creeping into my bones, I still had no desire to take refuge inside the art mausoleum. And it was closed. Because everything is closed on January 1. Most sane people stay home and recover from the festivities... instead we spent 10 minutes wandering around the Louvre courtyard, taking pictures, and trying to imagine a time when it was not an ice age...
With only a handful of options, we struck out to find the Latin Quater, figuring its tourist appeal would have a bar open for us to sit and enjoy up cup of warm coffee. We braved the leering grey skies and blizzard (okay, it was a few flurries, but it hardly ever does that in Paris!) and somehow managed to find an open cafe. The coffee was wonderful, but it was still cold inside. I thought I had left the cold home in Chicago.
Not wanting to be complete sticks in the mud, Keith and I ventured out into the street like two innocent bystanders on their way to the guillotine Paris. We walked toward other people figuring we could at least steal the warmth
of a crowd. We ended up going into a few bookstores and shops that were open and looked in a few windows. It wasn't terribly exciting, but it gave us something to do and a few moments' respite from the elements. The day was long, and so were our faces: a Paris vacation is not supposed to make you want to crawl in bed with a good book! What was wrong with us! Tired of complaining about the cold, we decided to head back to our hostel and relax before we found some dinner.
The dinner we found saved the whole day from being a waste. We walked down our rue and found a cafe that looked promising -- Cafe Francœur. It was nearby, quaint, and full of people lingering over tasty food. So français, so picturesque... I would have been satisfied just sitting there and feeling like I was in the perfect French bistro, what with the vintage mirrors, rattan chairs outside for those brave souls in need of only a space heater and cigarette, and rack full of baguettes ready to be torn apart and devoured. But the food trumped the whole scene: it was utterly delicious.
I ordered the chicken risotto and a glass of chardonnay... it set the bar high. The whole atmosphere and meal redeemed the otherwise gloomy day and made me think, Paris... I knew you could do it!
Til demain... Au revoir!
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