Day 3, and Max still has to work. BOO.
Today I am joined by Max's coworker's NEW wife, Jayna. She and Aaron flew straight to Paris from Negril, Jamaica where they celebrated their first honeymoon (Paris being their second). What a treat for them!
Jayna and I planned to just take a leisurely tour around the city so that she could get accustomed to the metro and to get out of the Ya Mon mindset that she had been in for the past week lounging on beaches and soaking up the warm Jamaica sun. What a contrast for her to come to Paris, where it was unseasonably cooler than normal and RAINY. We survived... :)
We bought new metro passes at the Gentilly station, and the ticket agent was quite smitten with Jayna and gave her the royal treatment (a map of Paris). Who said Parisians are rude? Not if you're a LADY! :)
We got off at the Cite stop (the same stop we got off on Day 1), and walked around a bit more of the area.
Right out of the stop, we came across this huge federal building:
and next to it is the beautiful church Sainte Chapelle. We admired it from the outside...the queue to go in was up the street. (Note: this was the case for many of the top attractions in Paris, so this was a bit of a turnoff for us most of the time. Also, the admission cost was quite inflated. We all opted to view the majority of the attractions from the outside, and to go in only when we felt the urge.)
Afterwards we walked by Notre Dame (note the trend?) and did a bit of Souveneir shopping along the way.
We walked around Ile Saint-Louis (a quaint island section of Paris) and crossed over the Seine and did a bit of boutique shopping and just enjoying the scents, sounds and flavors of Paris. You just can't get enough of it!
We stopped at Cafe Beauberg for a coffee...and in the knick of time, before the skies opened up and started pouring! This is the same cafe I had met Carina at the day before...and I wanted to show Jayna the bathroom. She took a picture of her own :)
When the rain let up, we ventured out again towards the metro...to go see the other staple of Paris -- the Eiffel Tower.
And we walked back up the plaza again to see the Ecole Militaire and the other sites near the Hotel d'Invalides.
We grabbed a yummy sandwich from a street vendor and hopped back on the RER home...to take a quick nap before the guys got done with work. We just had the feeling that dinner was going to be another big work affair!
And it WAS! The whole group of us (about 20+ people) hopped on the metro and got off at St. Michel. There we dined at a quaint French restaurant right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle.
Dinner was:
Appetizer: French Onion Soup (OMG good!); Max had Escargots!!
Dinner: Salmon; Max had pasta
Dessert: Chocolate Mousse!! (can't rememeber what Max had....can't believe I can still recall what I had!!)
We grabbed these two photos of the buildings next to the restaurant as we left.
And then...Max decided he was tired and wanted to go home...and some of the others wanted to head out towards Moulin Rouge district...so I went along for the ride! I was the only girl along, so I'd like to say that I saved these honorable gentlemen from some of the disgraces that we faced along the way. All in all, the late portion of the evening was an adventure...for several reasons:
1. Someone else using my dork book resulted in his walking in the wrong direction.
2. We didn't make it quite as far as Moulin Rouge, so instead we crashed at the outdoor seating at a small bar along the outskirts of the district.
3. Some of the male company were upset that we weren't going to see Moulin Rouge (we had to explain to him what the place actual WAS).
4. We did finally get to see Moulin Rouge on our way home...from the cab window. It is right next door to Pussy's.
5. All cab drivers do drugs. Enuf said.
Max was still awake when I got home (which wasn't too late BTW). Poor guy was worried about me...awww!
Today I am joined by Max's coworker's NEW wife, Jayna. She and Aaron flew straight to Paris from Negril, Jamaica where they celebrated their first honeymoon (Paris being their second). What a treat for them!
Jayna and I planned to just take a leisurely tour around the city so that she could get accustomed to the metro and to get out of the Ya Mon mindset that she had been in for the past week lounging on beaches and soaking up the warm Jamaica sun. What a contrast for her to come to Paris, where it was unseasonably cooler than normal and RAINY. We survived... :)
We bought new metro passes at the Gentilly station, and the ticket agent was quite smitten with Jayna and gave her the royal treatment (a map of Paris). Who said Parisians are rude? Not if you're a LADY! :)
We got off at the Cite stop (the same stop we got off on Day 1), and walked around a bit more of the area.
Right out of the stop, we came across this huge federal building:
and next to it is the beautiful church Sainte Chapelle. We admired it from the outside...the queue to go in was up the street. (Note: this was the case for many of the top attractions in Paris, so this was a bit of a turnoff for us most of the time. Also, the admission cost was quite inflated. We all opted to view the majority of the attractions from the outside, and to go in only when we felt the urge.)
Afterwards we walked by Notre Dame (note the trend?) and did a bit of Souveneir shopping along the way.
We walked around Ile Saint-Louis (a quaint island section of Paris) and crossed over the Seine and did a bit of boutique shopping and just enjoying the scents, sounds and flavors of Paris. You just can't get enough of it!
We stopped at Cafe Beauberg for a coffee...and in the knick of time, before the skies opened up and started pouring! This is the same cafe I had met Carina at the day before...and I wanted to show Jayna the bathroom. She took a picture of her own :)
When the rain let up, we ventured out again towards the metro...to go see the other staple of Paris -- the Eiffel Tower.
And we walked back up the plaza again to see the Ecole Militaire and the other sites near the Hotel d'Invalides.
We grabbed a yummy sandwich from a street vendor and hopped back on the RER home...to take a quick nap before the guys got done with work. We just had the feeling that dinner was going to be another big work affair!
And it WAS! The whole group of us (about 20+ people) hopped on the metro and got off at St. Michel. There we dined at a quaint French restaurant right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle.
Dinner was:
Appetizer: French Onion Soup (OMG good!); Max had Escargots!!
Dinner: Salmon; Max had pasta
Dessert: Chocolate Mousse!! (can't rememeber what Max had....can't believe I can still recall what I had!!)
We grabbed these two photos of the buildings next to the restaurant as we left.
And then...Max decided he was tired and wanted to go home...and some of the others wanted to head out towards Moulin Rouge district...so I went along for the ride! I was the only girl along, so I'd like to say that I saved these honorable gentlemen from some of the disgraces that we faced along the way. All in all, the late portion of the evening was an adventure...for several reasons:
1. Someone else using my dork book resulted in his walking in the wrong direction.
2. We didn't make it quite as far as Moulin Rouge, so instead we crashed at the outdoor seating at a small bar along the outskirts of the district.
3. Some of the male company were upset that we weren't going to see Moulin Rouge (we had to explain to him what the place actual WAS).
4. We did finally get to see Moulin Rouge on our way home...from the cab window. It is right next door to Pussy's.
5. All cab drivers do drugs. Enuf said.
Max was still awake when I got home (which wasn't too late BTW). Poor guy was worried about me...awww!
2 comments:
I love reading about your trip! I so want to go to Paris!!
You seem to be getting around quite easily! Are you ready to go back??
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