March 9, 2012
I had a terrible time sleeping through the night. I woke up at 4 am Paris time and even though my eyes were so tired, my mind was awake. I finished the book I’ve been reading and started the next one. I studied my French book to learn more words. I even wrote my first blog entry, but sleep wouldn’t come. Finally around 6:30 am, I decided to shower and get dressed for the day. When I was all dressed and ready, I finally felt tired enough to fall asleep, but only slept for about an hour more. It was time to start the day.
Andrew and I set out to find a nice little café where we could order coffee and pastries. Unfortunately he “yelped” a coffee place that was supposed to be good. We ended up passing several nice looking cafes along the way only to find a small little coffee shop that wasn’t very inviting. We decided to make up for it by walking back to one of the patisseries and buying…what else? Pastries! I had a scrumptious chocolate croissant and Andrew had an orange croissant. Both were delectable.
Our next stop: Notre Dame. It is only a five minute walk from our hotel. Thankfully, the sun was shining beautifully today in Paris. The warmth felt so nice on our skin. I could see the steeple of the cathedral as we made our way closer. We crossed the Seine and there it was, Notre Dame. The architecture and carvings were nothing less than spectacular. Every tiny detail had been hand carved. We walked around and took many pictures in front of the church, and then entered the church itself. After touring the inside, we then waited in line for about 40 minutes in order to climb the inside steps of the cathedral and see a spectacular view of Paris. The climb was a good 10 minute workout. Do that five times a day and you’d be in fantastic shape! The view from the top of the cathedral was amazing. Paris seemed to reach as far as the eyes could see. The city is so densely populated, but it is also very flat making it very easy to get a grasp of just how enormous it is. We got some great photographs of the view, as well as the upper and outer architecture of the cathedral. I wish I knew a little bit more history about Notre Dame, but that is one of the things I’ll have to look up when we get home.
I had a terrible time sleeping through the night. I woke up at 4 am Paris time and even though my eyes were so tired, my mind was awake. I finished the book I’ve been reading and started the next one. I studied my French book to learn more words. I even wrote my first blog entry, but sleep wouldn’t come. Finally around 6:30 am, I decided to shower and get dressed for the day. When I was all dressed and ready, I finally felt tired enough to fall asleep, but only slept for about an hour more. It was time to start the day.
Andrew and I set out to find a nice little café where we could order coffee and pastries. Unfortunately he “yelped” a coffee place that was supposed to be good. We ended up passing several nice looking cafes along the way only to find a small little coffee shop that wasn’t very inviting. We decided to make up for it by walking back to one of the patisseries and buying…what else? Pastries! I had a scrumptious chocolate croissant and Andrew had an orange croissant. Both were delectable.
Our next stop: Notre Dame. It is only a five minute walk from our hotel. Thankfully, the sun was shining beautifully today in Paris. The warmth felt so nice on our skin. I could see the steeple of the cathedral as we made our way closer. We crossed the Seine and there it was, Notre Dame. The architecture and carvings were nothing less than spectacular. Every tiny detail had been hand carved. We walked around and took many pictures in front of the church, and then entered the church itself. After touring the inside, we then waited in line for about 40 minutes in order to climb the inside steps of the cathedral and see a spectacular view of Paris. The climb was a good 10 minute workout. Do that five times a day and you’d be in fantastic shape! The view from the top of the cathedral was amazing. Paris seemed to reach as far as the eyes could see. The city is so densely populated, but it is also very flat making it very easy to get a grasp of just how enormous it is. We got some great photographs of the view, as well as the upper and outer architecture of the cathedral. I wish I knew a little bit more history about Notre Dame, but that is one of the things I’ll have to look up when we get home.
During Andrew’s first trip to Paris, he had recalled walking through narrow alleys that were densely packed with shops and restaurants. We decided to walk in the area that he thought it was located in. We ended up walking in a big circle and seeing some beautiful sights of the city, but we still did not find what we were looking for. Our stomachs were beginning to growl, so we decided to head back towards our hotel and stop at the shops next to the patisserie. There was a cheese shop, a meat shop, a wine shop and more. We ended up buying some cheeses and wine to bring back to our room for later. We went back to the patisserie for a quiche lorraine and a sandwich on a baguette. We felt very French with our arms full of delicious food as we made our way back to the room. We nibbled our Parisian fare with our balcony doors open and the sounds of the city filling our room.
After lunch, I decided that I needed to get in contact with my aunt Cheryl. We had been trying to get in touch with her since we arrived and still hadn’t any luck. I sent her an email to please call me in our hotel room since we would be back there for a few hours. We decided to take a little snooze since I was still exhausted and very sleep deprived. About an hour into my nap our phone rang. It was aunt Cheryl. It was lovely to speak with her. She invited us to her home tomorrow, which is about a 30 minute metro ride to the outskirts of the city. We have plans to drink champagne, eat traditional French fare and tour the city by car.
After I woke myself up a bit, we decided to make our way to Moulin Rouge. More than anything, it was just an opportunity for a photograph. It is located in Pigalle, which is basically a street filled with sex shops and strip clubs. Classy, I know. While walking toward our destination, we stumbled upon the streets that Andrew had been looking for earlier in the day. It appeared to be the heart of the latin quarter. The streets were very lively with many patrons eating and drinking in the store fronts. It looked like a fun place to have dinner, so we planned to return at some point. Then we were onward to Pigalle. We walked about a half mile from the metro, passed all the raunchy shops, took a photo of Moulin Rouge and hopped back on the metro. Our next stop was to be Rue Cler. According to Rick Steve’s, it is one of the best places in Paris. I don’t know if it was because I was tired and hungry but we got there and I was less than impressed. A few bustling restaurants, but most of the shops were closed for the night. I was disappointed. Maybe Rick Steves knows about a secret opium den or a pot dealer that the rest of us don’t know about.
After I woke myself up a bit, we decided to make our way to Moulin Rouge. More than anything, it was just an opportunity for a photograph. It is located in Pigalle, which is basically a street filled with sex shops and strip clubs. Classy, I know. While walking toward our destination, we stumbled upon the streets that Andrew had been looking for earlier in the day. It appeared to be the heart of the latin quarter. The streets were very lively with many patrons eating and drinking in the store fronts. It looked like a fun place to have dinner, so we planned to return at some point. Then we were onward to Pigalle. We walked about a half mile from the metro, passed all the raunchy shops, took a photo of Moulin Rouge and hopped back on the metro. Our next stop was to be Rue Cler. According to Rick Steve’s, it is one of the best places in Paris. I don’t know if it was because I was tired and hungry but we got there and I was less than impressed. A few bustling restaurants, but most of the shops were closed for the night. I was disappointed. Maybe Rick Steves knows about a secret opium den or a pot dealer that the rest of us don’t know about.
We decided to go back to the lively latin quarter and have dinner. Since we had eaten French food for the past several meals, we decided to go with Italian since there were so many Italian restaurants to choose from. Andrew ordered a shrimp linguine and I had the lasagna. Neither dish seemed anything authentic to me, but they were still very good in their own ways.
We finished up dinner and made our way back to the hotel. When we arrived in the lobby, we asked the front desk clerk for a knife. He looked at us very worriedly and asked us what for. Andrew said, “You know, a knife…for cutting…we bought some cheese and we want to cut it in the room.” The clerk still looked very concerned and hesitated a moment before he told us sorry, that the kitchen was closed. We laughed so hard when we got up to the room later. The poor man probably thought we wanted to stab him or stab each other or maybe both.
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