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Geo: 48.8534, 2.3488
Well, they say rehab takes 28 days. I didn't even make it quite 21 days. When the rest of the group left for the Louvre this morning, I went up to the rue St-Dominique to the Starbucks that supposedly closes at 8:00 p.m. but actually closes at 7:50 p.m. and got a mocha. It wasn't quite as good as one from the 40th floor Starbucks, but still ... ahhhh! And if you frown at me for going to Starbucks while in Paris, all I can say in my defense is that at least I didn't go to the one in the Louvre this time!
After the wine tasting in Beaune I bought a bottle of vin rouge for Jesse and Kelly, who arrived in Paris this morning. (I had been feeling a momentary flash of niceness ... or possibly brown-nosiness.) So when I was done sucking every last bit of cream from my Starbucks cup, I took the Metro to the 6th arrondissement and walked down the Boul' Mich (which is what all the cool kids call the Boulevard St-Michel) to their hotel and left the wine at reception. The lady at the desk was awfully nice and promised to
View from my window
The group prepares to go to the Louvreleave it in their room; I hope she did. Actually, she seemed a little disappointed that it wasn't champagne.
And then I walked back up the Boulevard St-Michel (just realized that I'm
not one of the cool kids) and stopped in a store called Six to buy some sunglasses. They're super-cheap, but I only need them to last for a few days. Again it was quite warm out, and the sun was really beating down. I expect to look in the mirror tomorrow morning and see a red nose and cheeks. I have also been brave enough to put my umbrella in my suitcase!
I went over to the Ile St-Louis and walked up the main drag, stopping in the Pylones shop to buy the guy who is doing my filing while I'm gone a thank-you (and I got something for myself as well). I really am trying to use my French, and for the most part I am understood. But then the Frenchies have to go and reply and then I get the deer in the headlights look. So I end up begging them to speak English; quite embarrassing.
I had lunch at my favorite restaurant on the Ile St-Louis: Cafe Med. (Confession: It's my favorite restaurant on the Ile St-Louis because it's the
only restaurant I've eaten at on the Ile St-Louis. But it is good.) I had the cheap menu: green salad with walnuts (my INR is going to be so messed up the next time I go for a blood draw), penne with gorgonzola, and a butter-and-sugar crepe. Everything was good, the two ladies working there were friendly, and it cost less than €15. What more can you ask for in Paris? I had planned to go to Amorino Gelato afterwards, but I figured I'd had the crepe so .... I'm very proud of my self-restraint. ;-)
Got on the Metro again to go to the Musée Jacquemart-André on Boulevard Haussmann. Nélie Jacquemart and Edouard André lived in the 19th and early part of the 20th century. They were wealthy and loved art, and they built a beautiful mansion and decorated it with pieces that any regular art museum would drool over. There are Canalettos, Fragonards, Rembrandts, Botticellis, and all sorts of amazing Greco-Roman statuary and beautiful furniture. Also, there are several ceilings that were brought from elsewhere, some painted by Tiepolo. I love going through stately homes: it makes me want a music room and an antechamber and a library, not to mention a sweeping staircase.
Boulevard Haussmann isn't far from the Champs-Elysées, so I walked down there to the Virgin Megastore. It was very, very mega, I must say. I had been hoping to find the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest album, but it wasn't available yet. Boo.
Took the Metro back to the hotel, where I am typing this and resting before our last supper tonight. We are going to La Terrasse, and then we are supposed to go on a Seine cruise. My wi-fi time is about to run out, so I will post this as is and then update it in London with a report on dinner and the cruise.
UPDATE:
Dinner was pretty good. We had about half of the second floor of the
restaurant, so we didn't bother anyone too badly. I had a caprese salad, chicken skewers with basmati rice, and one of those chocolate cakes that has molten chocolate lava inside. We were all very jovial and laughed a lot, and we were all hopping up and down taking pictures of everyone else.
After we were done eating, we went up to the restaurant's roof garden and
we each said what the highlight of the tour had been for us. Jim (beer drinker) nearly started to cry, which of course got several of the women going too (yes, including me). My highlight was our Neuschwanstein day; I could have done the luge again and again and again, and I wish I had put myself in the speed demon group.
When the Eiffel Tower started to sparkle, we left and went to the bateaux-mouches for our cruise. Everything is pretty when it's all lit up, but my camera is too simplistic to capture it all. There were tons of people along the quays picnicking and drinking and generally having fun. Every now and then there would be a little band of drummers, and it started to remind me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.
After the cruise, Reid took us over to the Pont de l'Alma to where the
“memorial to Princess Diana” is. He gave everyone a little Eiffel Tower, told us what his highlights were (us, of course), and pulled out cups and two bottles of champagne for a final toast. We were going to go to the Champs de Mars afterwards, but it was already midnight so we all trooped back to the hotel. It's 12:45 now, and I've set my alarm for 6:30. I might have to rethink that.
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