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8 October 2017

Paris 2017 – Day 8

Steps today: 21 976. I am not surprised it’s that low, I spent A LOT of time sitting today!

I have to make this post somewhat short and sweet because I have to pack my bags tonight. If we are friends on Facebook, then you’ve seen most of it already.

It was a great vacation – no complaints! I started my last day with a walk from the hotel to the Montparnasse Cemetery. I love the look of the elevated metro line.

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Maybe people think visiting a cemetery is kind of macabre, but I don’t think so – there are so many intresting things to see!

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Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre:

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Full of metro tickets!

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A cat-lover:

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Larousse (my high school friends will remember the not-so-petit-dictionary!)

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A fish with boobs:

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Auguste Bartholdi – builder of the Statue of Liberty

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Alfred Dreyfus: J’accuse!

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I love this pot of pens!

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After this, I stopped in a café breakfast:

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Then a stroll through town – here are some random shots:

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I stopping to watch the marathon for a bit from the Alma Bridge:

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A drink stop to enjoy a glass of Sauternes on a terrace sooooort of looking upon the Eiffel Tower:

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A delicious steak frittes lunch at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte:

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Another drink stop to sit back and watch the people stroll along the Champs-Élysées:

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Not cheap!

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Another stroll through town ending up at the Opéra House.

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It was not my intention to stop here for a drink, I have been to the Café de la Paix numerous times so I am kind of over it…. but I needed a place to pee and there was a great table free on the terrace with an unobstructed view of the building. I could not resist! I lingered over an hour.

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Onwards down the Boulevards ending at the Place de la République:

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Then walked to the Seine, on the way I passed by the Bataclan. When I was here last year, the place was still swarming with police and I didn’t feel it was appropriate to take pictures, now almost 2 years later its still cordonned off. It’s just tragic.

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Passed the Batille, I caught the metro back to the hotel. I took care of my on-line check in for tomorrow’s flight home, then went for supper at Café de France again across the street.

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Now, time to get packing! Thanks for following along Smile

7 October 2017

Paris 2017 – Day 7

Steps today: 22 605. I’m not surprised that it’s lower than average, I did a lot of terrace lounging today!

I was out the door a little after 8AM this morning, again since most places only open at 10AM I occupied my time travelling a little out of town to see of some sights on my list. I went to the islands in the Seine that are southwest of Central Paris, where the Seine does one of it’s many U-turns. First was Île Seguin to see the Seine Musical. It was really nothing special, perhaps I had to be even further west to get better shots.

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After this, I walked eastwards towards Île Saint-Germain. It was a nice sunny walk along the Seine and I was really interested in all the houseboats moored along the river.

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The purpose of going to Île Saint-Germain was to get a picture of the Tour aux Figures. I had seen it on TV a few years ago when watching the Tour de France and I said I’d get a picture of it one day. DONE!

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I also came across a horseback riding school; the little kiddies on their ponies were SOOO CUUUTE!

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The big kids were practicing their jumping.

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By the time I got back to Paris it was already after 10:30AM so I found a heated terrace and had some brunch. It was SO SO SO zen. I felt so good! No stress, no thoughts of anything I needed to do, no anxiety about getting things done at home or at work… it was a very rare moment where I was really able to empty my brain.

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And what’s brunch without champagne? I LOVED their stemware.

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Next, I went to the Museum of Liberation. I am so glad I didn’t do it on Wednesday when I was cramming it all in. I am so fascinated by the French Resistance, I am glad I visited when my brain was prepared to take it in properly.

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This letter made me cry, I was so embarrassed, it just touched me so much I couldn’t help it. It was so poignant.

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From here, I walked over to the Champs Élysées for some more loungy terrace time… my neighbour was not as happy as I was to watch the world go by!

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It was almost 3PM by the time I left, where did the time go?!?!?! I walked to the Picasso Museum in the Marais; Picasso is not my thing so I gave it a really high-level walk through. The best part was when I left I saw it had been raining while I was inside, so I got a break from the weather without even knowing it!

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The Marais was PACKED. So full of people it was unbelievable! it actually started to be too much for me after a while and I was glad to eventually emerge from the throng.

I wanted to visit the Shoah Memorial but it was closed, not sure why, maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.

I continued walking to Île Saint-Louis and was lured in by another heated terrace, but I didn’t last long – it was so windy that the heat lamps were not helping!

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I left after my first course and finished supper at another resto, where I sat inside!! I had a nightcap at the smoky café across the street from my hotel that I was avoiding all week, it was really nice but I was right to avoid it – the smoke was pretty intense. Still, can’t beat the location in spitting distance of my hotel’s front door.

Here are some random pictures of my day:

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Good night!