le 26 Septembre
Last day : (
The plan for today had been evolving over the week, starting out being reserved for shopping and souvenirs then becoming the 'make up' day to do stuff we hadn't gotten to on previous days to finally ending up as a 'bonus' day to do all of that and new stuff.
After croissants and café creme just down the street from the hotel, we took the métro to the Bastille station where we began a walk around the Marais. We emerged from the station right in front of the Opéra Bastille, scene of Il Barbiere earlier in the week. I remarked to Reyn that had we been more organized it would have made a lot of sense to have taken the métro to the opera that night and spared ourselves the expense of the cab and the nightmare of the traffic crush. Live and learn.
We started walking at the Place de la Bastille, and proceeded down to rue Beautreillis to see the apartment building where Jim Morrison actually died. Although described as nondescript in the guidebook, I thought it was rather nice. On to Place des Vosges where we sat a short while on a bench and looked around the square, took several pictures in front of the one fountain that was actually spouting. Then to rue Francois Miron to try to find the house where Mozart lived in 1763. After passing it initially we doubled back and found that the plaque marking the building was actually on a wall inside the courtyard, not immediately visible to a pedestrian unless you were really looking for it. Luckily the courtyard was open so we wandered in and took a look at the exterior of the building. Very impressive, although it seems that the Mozarts were staying as guests of the people who actually lived in the building. Afterward we stopped for pastry and then continued strolling up to a fountain outside one of the gates to the Luxembourg Gardens. We sat down at a café and had a nice lunch of omelette (me) and crepe (Reyn) while watching the people of the city walk by. We went through the enchanting park, seeing a jazz band, children riding ponies, children sailing boats in the pond, palm trees, tennis courts and any number of chestnuts. Quite a combination of sights I would say. We took the métro from near there to Concorde station so we could do the rue Cambon Chanel photo opportunity. Did a bit more strolling, a little bit of shopping and then stopped for a quick drink before heading back to the hotel to rest. Right now Reyn is napping and I am catching up on my journal. Not sure yet what the evening has in store.
Reyn awoke from his nap and we decided to go for something to eat near the Eiffel Tower. We got on the métro and took it to Ecole Militaire where we emerged pretty much right at a café. I had vin rouge, quiche Lorraine with salad and finally was able to sample some Berthillon ice cream - pistachio. Tres yummy. After a side trip to get some juice and other essentials for breakfast in the morning, we made our way to Champ de Mars for the tower's 9:00 pm show. We sat down near a bunch of rowdies playing Michael Jackson really loud and dancing in a circle. We were further back than on Tuesday evening and there were a lot more people milling about having pique-niques and beaucoup vin et biere. As we sat and the twinkling began I became very sad at the thought of leaving in the morning. I realized that if I had made it to Paris as planned all those years ago there was a fairly good chance I would have found some way to stay. Eh bien...
Walked back to the métro and went back to the hotel where we checked in for our flights, packed, and said our goodbyes to the tres comfortable lit.
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