Back in Paris for one last visit. Left Rouen on Wednesday, booked into the hotel, returned the car, back to the hotel. Aaahhhhhh, time to relax.
Intend to spend our final three days here before flying out. How to spend our time here? What else is there to see in Paris? We’ve done the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees, Saint-Germain, the Musee D’Orsay, tried to do the Catacombs to no avail. What else? Not really interested in seeing the Palace of Versailles. So, we did absolutely nothing except to wander around and “discover” some more of Paris for ourselves.
Woke up each morning around 8.30. Lazed around for a bit. Went outside the hotel about 1030. Tossed a coin to determine which direction to head in. And just started walking.
First day - walked from the hotel down to Opera, had a look at the Opera House (magnificent), visited one of the most iconic stores in France, Galleries Lafayette (sublime), then continued on down to the river to the Louvre. Didn't go in as we had already been before (once in a lifetime is enough), so we contented ourselves with a selfie out front. Decided to visit the Clingancourt area where the Moulin Rouge is located. Found the Metro at the Louvre, worked out we needed to change trains once then get off at Pigalle Metro which put us right in the heart of what could be described as the "Kings Cross" of Paris. Its a fascinating walk down Boulevard de Clichy. Lots of sleaze, intermingled with a bit of Parisian charm, with lots of "tourist traps" thrown in for good measure.
The next day we headed off over to Republique, an area where we haven't been to before. Walking down the wide boulevards, you soon begin ti appreciate how beautiful a city Paris is. Stately apartment blocks, small cosy brasseries and cafes, historic theaters and monuments, Paris is a living breathing museum. Our walk took us down to Place de la Republique, one of the most historic squares in Paris. Tributes to those who died are still present all round the statue in the middle of the square. From Republique we caught the Metro up to Montmatre to revisit the place where we stayed when we first visited Paris way back in 2010 - an apartment located at 12 Rue Charles Nodier (incidentally, where we also had our car towed for the first time). We can still picture ourselves sitting at the window of the apartment and gazing up at Sacre Coeur bathed in moonlight. Aaahhhh nostalgia.
We have found the perfect "Parisien" restaurant to eat at over the last three days - the Bo Man Cafe just up the street from our hotel. Everything about it told us we were in Paris. Rickety tables jammed into a space no bigger than a bedroom. The staff were really friendly and helpful with deciding on which dishes to try. Every night we went there the place was about 90% full. And the food was great, in particular the Duck Confit with parsely and garlic fried potatoes. Ate there every night. The owners knew us by sight by the third night.
We have spent a most enjoyable three days in Paris to finish our trip. We have done nothing but relax and get to know the "real " Paris - no tourist attractions, no rushing around to try and see it all. We will be sad to say goodbye to our most favorite place of all, in fact Julie gets a bit teary eyed whenever she thinks about it. All the more reason to start planning to come back again.
Tomorrow we start our journey home. Not looking forward to that - it will take us until Tuesday before we are back home again.