I am unsatisfied with my Field Reports. Years from now, when I look back and want to recall my adventures, they will not do the job… so here I go again using maps, our pictures (including the ones I posted on Facebook), and my memories before they fade!
Day 2 started off late – for us. Normally we are up by 7 and out the door before 8. On this day, we woke up at 8:30AM – however considering we got no sleep the night before, this 10½ - 11 hours of sleep was needed!
Because we were staying at Citadines again, we had a kitchenette so we had breakfast in the room and were dressed and out the door a bit before 10AM. We laughed about how late this was! Perhaps it was a record.
We started our day with a walk to the Islands of Île Saint-Louis and Île de la Cité. It was overcast with a few drops, but not umbrella worthy – hoods were good enough.
One of the must-sees I had for this trip was Sainte-Chapelle. We missed it in 2004 and 2012 and I was not going to let another trip go by and miss it again!
We passed by Notre Dame and gawked at the line ups. I would have considered visiting it again, but the line ups were so long we did not bother – the only line up I was willing to endure was for Sainte-Chapelle.
The line-up was not so bad; there were 2 actually –one for security and one to buy tickets. Overall the wait was approximately an hour and I thought it was worth while… even though it started raining harder.
As is the case (seemingly) more often than not, half of it was covered up for renovation. Still, it was beautiful – it would just have been doubly beautiful if the left wall was not covered up.
After this, we headed south to explore the Latin Quarter. In 2004 we stayed near here and really enjoyed the area but we didn’t get around to seeing much of it in 2012.
We wandered around for about an hour and decided on lunch at Les Deux Magots. I had a great cheese plate there in 2012 and have wanted another one ever since! It was just as good! Loved it! This will be a must-stop-lunch for all future visits to Paris.
2012
2014
After lunch it was more wandering. I tried taking pictures of Saint Sulpice with my IPhone but you really need a wide lens to get it all in… and even then like you can see in this picture, it’s hard!
The rain drops were on and off all day, but we had a small break in the clouds allowing us a nice walk through the Luxembourg Gardens.
My husband is addicted to coffee – he denies it, but it’s true. Oh sure he can stop anytime but I don’t want him too; I can’t handle the mood swings! HA! On this day, we did not have a morning coffee stop so by now, 2:30PM it was time for a dose. I on the other hand can skip coffee anytime… but I can’t skip my daily cocktail HA! So off we went to succumb to our addictions!
Nice café, extremely lousy cappuccino. Cold and barely any coffee. My husband needed an espresso after this to perk up.
We were steps away from the Pantheon, which was undergoing a lot of renovations. Thankfully we’ve seen it looking better!
While we were taking a load off, we managed to connect with Lou and agreed to meet him in front of Notre Dame at 4PM. I told him we would stay put and wait for him this time! It worked.
Lou is currently walking with a cane because he is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. His mobility is somewhat reduced and walking too long is hard on him. I think we might have pushed him a little too hard on this day because from Notre Dame we walked him across the Pont des Arts, through the courtyards of the Louvre and from there off to a restaurant my husband and I have wanted to try since we walked by in 2012. “Au Pied de Cochon”. Poor guy, it’s a long walk when you have to limp it! Luckily, he was overwhelmed by the scenery so it gave him a second wind to keep going.
We got to the restaurant by about 6PM. According to both Lou and Frank, the pig’s foot was not amazing… more tendon and fat and skin than meat. I had the gilled salmon instead and it was delicious.
The rest was good for Lou’s leg because it gave him the stamina to walk a little more after dinner.
We walked to the Centre Georges Pompidou not far away – frankly, I’ve never been that impressed with it.
I’m relatively certain that the 3 of us walked back to Place de la République and then parted ways to head back to our respective hotels… but it’s already been a week so the details are getting fuzzy!
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