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Published: July 22nd 2012
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We woke to another beautiful day here in the city of lights. They say it has been raining a lot here but we are so blessed that we brought the nice weather from the south with us. We enjoyed a leisurely morning before we made our plans for the day.
We have been to many of the Paris museums and sites already during our several visits to Paris so we were wanting to create new memories and experiences. We took the metro to rue Saint-Honore and browsed all the famous fashion boutiques and art galleries. Prada, Dior, Chanel, Loubaton, Zenga, Armani and on and on. We were in the Longchamps store and I was looking at some fold up travel bags. Not a single clerk would even acknowledge me because all of these high end boutiques were crowded with Asians, and they were spending! I would have spent too but left with credit cards in tact.
We walked about a mile + down the street as we were looking for a store, J P. Journe, that Jim saw am interesting watch in a magazine that he wanted to see. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), this store was closed today so
Jim did not get to check it out. We soon came across the Hotel Le Bristol from our favorite movie, Midnight in Paris. It looked absolutely beautiful and staying there would have been so special but rooms start at $850 euros per night for a deluxe room! Too high for our pocket books. We continued on and made our way to the Champs Élysées and stopped at a bistro we have been to before and each enjoyed a baguette sandwich of formage and jambon. Jim had a bowl of French onion soup and I had some pomme frites.
We decided to take the metro to Gallerie Lafayette. This is a department store that occupies 3 separate buildings. I was thinking I would find shoes on sale but everything featured were these really high platforms and I would hurt myself walking in them. I must say the collections of designer departments is fantastic. My friend Jewel would have credit card melt down buying shoes here because she is always wearing the most beautiful, stylish shoes! Jim bought me a lovely scarf and we headed back out to go to Saint Chapelle which we have never been to before.
La
Sainte-Chapelle (French pronunciation: , The Holy Chapel, was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics, including the Crown of Thorns. Begun some time after 1239 and consecrated in the April 1248 it is considered among the highest achievements of Gothic architecture. Although damaged during the French revolution and heavily restored in the 19th century, it retains one of the most extensive collections of 13th century stained glass anywhere in the world. The 15 huge stained glass windows on the upper chapel and the round rose stained glass are breathtaking. The long wait to go inside for the short visit was certainly worthwhile. We are so glad we can add this magnificent chapel to the list of Paris sites we have visited.
We stopped at a nearby cafe on the Ile de la Cité and shared a grand marnier crepe and rested our weary feet and bodies. We were both exhausted and got out our metro map and figured out how to get back to our hotel in the 7th arrondissement. We dragged ourselves to our room and promptly took a nap.We woke about
7:30 and went out for a light
dinner. We fond a pizza restaurant across the street from our new fav place. On our way back to the hotel we stopped by Le 7eme Vin and made a reservation for dinner tomorrow night at 8:00. Can't wait! We grabbed some cafe au lait and brought it up to our room to enjoy.
Tomorrow the tour de France rides in to Paris and down the Champs élysées between
2-5:00, and if we can, we will try and see the riders come down the strip. We will need to take it easy tomorrow because my body is weary. Otherwise, I am not sure my feet will make another day of walking around. Last day in Paris and final day of touring .... We have had a wonderful trip but we are ready to sleep in our own bed!
bonne nuit.
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