PARIS, Part 2

A few shots of the city during our stay...

Just Julia
Julia Child's 3rd-floor apartment when she discovered French cooking - and a nice sample of a typical downtown Paris building. This one was in a prime location just across the Seine from the Place de la Concorde, so I'm guessing it's no longer within a diplomat's budget.

Place de la Concorde
The sprawling center of Paris with the obelisk (think Washington monument, shrunk) in the middle, where monsieur guillotine used to sit back when it was called the "Place de la Revolution." In the top photo, you can just see the Eiffel tower through the fog. In the middle, the Arc de Triomphe. At the bottom, the fountains and lots of pavement. The Place can of course be beautiful (even in a dark-and-stormy way), I'm just going for truth in advertising here...

Hotel Meurice
Emboldened by my triumph in walking through Chanel's original store, I lost my head and started to walk into the Hotel Meurice of "Is Paris Burning?" fame. One of the porters stepped up to ask me my business. (Mind you, I was not in Chanel, but I was not in rags either.) I said I'd read about the hotel's history... To which she replied, in French, "You just want to walk through? No, I'm sorry, it's not possible."

I can't help thinking the former Nazi headquarters could have a little more humility...but moving right along...

Notre Dame
Our requisite visit to the grand lady. The top (John the Baptist holding his head) and bottom ("knight" holding his sword) photos were especially for our boys; I carried their interests with me everywhere.

In the middle, Josh is eating a fresh-made crepe with "apple compote" on the bleachers facing the cathedral (odd, but useful). He was expecting Cracker-Barrel-esque baked apples; he got Motts-esque applesauce. #oops

Shakespeare & Co.
All the famous writers living in 1920s Paris (Stein, Hemingway, Pound, Fitzgerald) visited Shakespeare & Co. regularly to sit and read, then fold down a corner of a page and come back later to finish the book. The owner at the time was a patron and mentor. Today, I didn't spot any famous authors, but it has the winding little corridors, stacks at every odd angle, serendipity of a piano in one nook and chandelier in the other, and old-book smell that prove its worth.

                                                                                     Found this gem at the bookstore of all bookstores.

Ile Saint Louis
I had read about walking through the "medieval" little town of Ile St-Louis in the middle of Paris, so I was surprised to discover a distinctly 19th-century maze of mostly-quiet narrow streets. I found the hotel I'd want to stay in next time (Hotel Lutece), an adorable grocery store, and several fantastic-looking restaurants, but that's about it. It's like a little residential neighborhood in the middle of the tourist mecca.

Worst Dinner
This looks great! A romantic dinner at a cafe in Paris. White table cloths. Three courses. Surely the famously gourmet French who police their culture like we police violence would not allow objectively bad food to be served. I promise Josh's escargot tasted like the pond they came from (though I do tend to think that of all escargot) but then his bass did too, and that just ain't right. He spent the night tossing and turning, convinced we were gonna see that fish again.

My goat cheese & toast salad was fun (though soaking in dressing), but the oddly-crunchy cappuccino ice cream kept me awake, too. At least we got to toss and turn together, right?

Toilets
'Cause who else is gonna tell you about this? Two things to know:
1. If there are two buttons, push the smaller one to flush peepee. Push both for the other. If there are no buttons, pull the chain hanging from the ceiling.
2. If there's no seat (?? not uncommon), I don't recommend sitting. I just hope you don't have a little girl with you.

Champs Elysees

Our last morning we had time for a quick run in the rain past several Japanese tour groups and down the Champs Elysees, where Josh made a few big golden friends, thanks to Louis Vuitton.

The Bus

Months ago, I checked out the EuroStar 2-hour express train from Paris to London online. It leaves 2/hour and was less than $100, so I figured people just show up, buy a ticket, and board, as we've done for many other buses/trains.

I was wrong. Our last night in Paris, I found out the last-minute price is $250/person. The bus is only $65. It takes 8 hours, so we pretended we wanted a scenic tour of the countryside. We left Paris at 11am and arrived in London around 6pm. The bus was clean, roomy, comfy, and gave us a chance to see lots of green rolling hills with cows and windmills and graffiti (in France) and sheep (in England).

A little more yin (the windmills were cool) than yang...

The Chunnel
With one interesting bit in between: The Channel. The bus drove from Paris to Calais, then into a train, was carried (with us in it) through the Chunnel, then drove out of the train at Dover, and on to London.

The only plans it sacked: our dinner reservations at a highly-rated restaurant in London (Orrery), which we replaced with our 2nd worst meal of the trip...

For more, see KENSINGTON.