Day 13. Paris

Cake shop Cory. YUM

It was so nice to wake up and be here in Paris!!! A nice cool breeze was coming through the window and was perfect for the start to the day. Like all European hotels, the heating is set to “ON” here, and it was fairly stuffy until we worked out how to crack the window open!

Peugot concept car

After breakfast, we were all set for our walking tour of this amazing city. With so much to see and little time to do it in, we set out for the Arch de Triomphe and champs Elysee. We stopped at a stunning pastry shop for you know who, popped into the Peugeot superstore, and looked into some of the stores on this major shopping strip. The vast array of men’s clothing stores and stunning fashions leaves Australia for dead. No wonder most of the French are in good shape - They have all these stunning clothes to wear! 

Anyone for a fagot?

At the bottom of Champs Elysee, the Christmas markets had started. We were expecting lots of xmas type things, but the majority of stalls were selling the usual market fare in Europe. Cheeses, meats, crepes, hot wine, and some novelty items. there was not one stall that we saw selling any type of xmas decorations. It was interesting to see a salami stall selling “fagots” - see attached pic! LOL - and sistah - Cory did have a giggle that they may be good for someone's pizza!

fromage stall - mmm nice smell!

choc marshmallows

Can see Tour eiffel from all of paris

We kept the pace up and headed towards the Jardin au Tulleries, where the beautiful Musee de Le Orangerie is located. While we didn’t have time to take in any major museums, we wanted to at least see one in Paris, and this was a superb choice! It houses Monet’s “water garden” which takes up two massive rooms, with 8 panels representing east to west, from sunrise to sunset for the water lillies. The rooms were breathtaking and people were gasping as they walked in. Very nice indeed. We also saw some other famous artwork housed in this gallery including some pieces from Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne and an exhibition from Chaim Soutinne, which showcased his somewhat distorted paintings from the start of his career to the finish. He had a fairly tragic life filled with anxiety, and this certainly came through in his work. 

Picasso piece

cheeky fun in gallery

Musee de Louvre

Entrance to the Louvre

We walked passed the Musee de Louvre, but decided we did not have time to visit this time. According to our guide last night, the Museum displays 40,000 pieces, which would take three months to see if you spent 3 seconds in front of each piece. ooh lah lah!!! There were a lot of people lining up to go in and no doubt there were many hoping to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa!

The River Seine

La perouse - one month waiting list

Notre Dam

The roses

From the Musee de Louvre, we crossed lovers bridge and headed towards Notre Dam, the famous 850 year old gothic cathedral. On our way, we passed one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, La Perouse. It has been opened since before Captain Cook first sailed to Australia and King Henry 3rd used a fork for the first time here. On approach, the cathedral looked amazing. It is undergoing some major works to celebrate this milestone next year, which were evident in a scurry of activity. The church is free to visit, and was packed with tourists. It is amazing that the floor has been able to cope with so many traversing it over the years. Despite signs asking for silence, most tourists enjoyed their conversations as though they were at a football match. LOL.... The cathedral has amazing colorful leadlight windows, with two particularly large windows with 33000 pieces in each. 

electric car recharge

There was a few things we noticed on the streets which were of interest. One was the electric cars being recharged. They seemed to be on many streets at charging stations. It was an interesting sight. Also, there was a lot of “merde” around. The french obviously are not bothered much cleaning up after their dogs.Despite this, the streets were very clean, as were all the buildings!

Cory loving duck liver

Despite it sounding like we went for a gentle stroll, we had covered some miles, and decided we could not take much more. We headed for Craig’s recommended restaurant, which was closed though strangely there were two old men sitting out the front, and found something nearby to that. It was called Royale Turenne and looked like a typical french bistro. We had a fabulous evening, with Cory enjoying the fois gras terrine he was convinced into trying. Our waiter had the largest pepper grinder we have ever seen and was a lot of fun. He gave us some space and did not allow anyone to sit on the table next to us. I think he sensed we were not that into the French way of piling everyone on top of each other. At least there was not anyone smoking next to us, like they do everywhere else. We had a lovely night and at the end of it, could not wait to get back to our room for a well deserved rest.

David and his massive pepper mill

Coq au vin

Before I say goodnight, NEWSFLASH - Paris is now Cory’s equal favourite city.... Any guesses what the other one is?

Bon soir!!!