When we were on vacation, after 3 days I was no longer able to include pictures in my blog posts. After 4 days I was no longer able to upload anything at all, but I still composed my posts to update later when I got home. After 8 days I got fed up of bothering to write up things I was not uploading so I gave up. Now that all the technical issue have been resolved, it’s time to go back in time and finish these diary entries.
We got back to Paris by about 2:30 and had a debate regarding how to kick off our afternoon adventure. Step one was lunch and I wanted to take the metro to get to our final destination while Frank wanted to walk around starting from the train station. I’m not opposed to walking at all, but I wanted to skip the walking in a lousy area part and start with walking in a nicer area of town. St Denis is a little grimy, I wanted beauty! Ah well… we got a decent picture of the Porte St Denis(almost impossible to get the entire thing in the shot!)
And also “La Pointe Trigano” which if I new at the time was a historical landmark I would have endeavoured to get a better framed picture!
We ended up on the Rue Montorgueil, one of the many market streets in Paris …
… and settled in for lunch. People are still allowed to smoke on terraces outside, so we picked the table in the far corner near the chalk board and close to the street so we wouldn’t be surrounded. It was not that comfortable since the table was crooked, but the food was good and it was a great perch people-watching.
After lunch we continued on our wander, curious to see if the construction around Les Halles was completed… Nope! 6 visits to Paris and I still have never seen the area not under construction!
We came across this interesting building -
Then desperate for a pee stop we stopped at a café with lots of outdoor seating. The service was so slow, the waiters never came by – great, nice clean resto pee stop with no need to spend any money!
We got a nice shot of Place Vendome now that is was no longer cordoned off!
Strolled through Place de la Concorde
Crossed the Pont des Invalides in order to get a full-on view of the Pont Alexandre III
And made it to our ultimate destination “Rue de Grenelle” in the neighbourhood between the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides.
I’ve been hunting to find a particular fountain for a few visits now: Fontaine Grenelle. Last time I was in Paris I was mixed up about it’s location and for some reason I thought it was near our hotel… it wasn’t. I Google it, and results told me the Fontaine Grenelle was on Rue de Grenelle. Logical! But no luck. We gave up the hunt for now, determined to google it once we got back to the room and resume the hunt the following day.
It was about 6PM by now and we weren’t very hungry since we had lunch so late, but it’s illegal to skip a meal in Paris so we had a snack in lieu of supper.
Cheese & wine for me of course! Saint Marcellin… MMMM Hard to find at home. I found it once in a specially cheese shop but it just wasn’t the same. I think eating it IN France composes a big part of it’s deliciousness.
Frank got a present in his fries… ha!
After snack/supper it was time to head back to the hotel. I would have liked to linger a little longer near the Eiffel Tower but Frank was beat so he lured me away by the promise of stopping for a nightcap in one of the cafés near the hotel.
Still got a parting shot!
The nightcap stop near the hotel was completely worth it because it contributed to my Grand Marnier education.
As you know, I love GM! but on multiple occasions I would order a GM expecting a glass of liquid amber and was served a clear drink instead which I logically concluded it was Cointreau. Most people say they are the same, but they are NOT!
It’s happened to me on multiple occasions over several visits, giving me something to whine about on social media. Here are some of my rants over 2 visits.
Not wanting to fall for it again, when ordering GM in some cafés I would double check before ordering that they had GM and not Cointreau!
This night, I watched the waiter pour my drink from the very distinctive bottle so I knew it was GM… and look what came to the table!
As I suspected, there IS a clear type of GM!
The kind most people are familiar with, the kind I always buy because it’s the only kind I knew of is “Cordon Rouge” (red ribbon) which is logical to GM drinkers since the bottle is adorned with a red ribbon. But there also exists “Cordon Jaune” (yellow ribbon).
I can honestly say I prefer the Rouge!
Now I know.
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