April 30th

Today's adventures began on the Route 69 bus - the city bus which hits a lot of the Paris highlights.  Frank got off at the Louvre, and I continued on to Pere Lachaise Cemetary.  We decided to go our own ways and meet up again for dinner.  Frank loved the Louvre, took a 1.5 hour guided tour and wandered about.  Yes, we'll go there together too on another day.  There's 12 miles (yes, miles) of art gallery, so there's plenty to see.  I had the camera, so you're going to share my day.

My sister-in-law Nancy told me about this cemetery, and it is highlighted in the Paris tour books as well.  It's a bit off the beaten path, but full of wonderful sculpture and history.  I spent a few hours there.

It is hauntingly beautiful.  Thousands of vaults and tombstones and sculptures.  It opened in 1804 - the oldest inscription that I noticed was 1836.  Many grave sites were old and neglected, but there is still an elegance and beauty to it all.

The 100 acre cemetery is crammed full of all sorts and shapes of markers.  It's confusingly wonderful.

This was taken looking into a tomb through the grate.  Many of the tombs had sculptures or stained glass windows inside.  Sadly, many of the windows were broken.  Peeking in here and there was like a treasure hunt.

The pigtails on this sweet girl caught my eye.

This is one of the *many* memorials to the victims of Nazi Germany.  Many had moving words depicting who was lost.  It was sobering.

What amazing tributes.

This woman with her book was one of my favorites.  The sash on the flower bouquet says, "A Notre Suzy Bien Aimee."  (For our Suzy, well loved)

Amazing that so much emotion can be sculpted into stone.

A more modern stained glass inside a tomb.

It's hard to transition from such a sacred and sobering place, but I left after a few hours and headed back into the center of Paris.

Since I was on my own, I knew it was Angelina day.  Frank had enough frill and fancy at Laduree, so I decided to sip chocolate at Angelina's on my own.  (he was grateful)  My friend Sue told me it's a MUST stop for the world's best hot chocolate.  It was time for lunch, so I decided to make a meal of it.  What an absolute delight.

There's the bus!

I got off on Rue de Rivoli, and knew I had arrived when I saw this mosaic on the sidewalk.  The famous Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre are right across the street.

There I am!  I liked the grand piano in the entrance...

I entered the dining room and asked for a table for one.  I ordered, and then wandered back to simply *look* at the bakery.  (Patisserie) So far on this blog I've spared you from seeing the French food displays which are EVERYWHERE, but this time you get to see it all. It was too marvelous not to share. Plus, photos have no calories or carbs.

Plus des macaroons.

Le chocolat.

Du pain.

Des tartes.

Meringues.

Des eclairs.

Mont Blanc.  These have creamy white centers that ooze out when you break into them.  (the woman next to me ordered one!)

Bottles of the infamous chocolate to take home and heat.

Tea.

Preserves.

This is the most inviting and artistic food display I have ever seen.  Incredible.  Meticulous.  I quickly returned to my table!

In my absence the waiter had laid out my "carafe d'eau," (we order this tap water everywhere...tis always served in a glass pitcher with a wine glass), my lovely napkin and mais oui (of course) la baguette.

And then my Croque Madame arrived.  A Croque Monsieur is a grilled ham and cheese.  A Croque Madame is the same, with an egg added.  I didn't know the egg would be on top!  Quite the concoction. I leisurely sipped my water and ate about half the sandwich.  "Rich" does not begin to describe it.  A smooth creamy cheese covered the whole top.  Unbelievable.  I took my time, savoring each bite and the surroundings, and writing in my travel journal.  A brief respite in a busy week.

And then...I ordered Le Chocolat.

It arrives in a small pitcher, along with a small mountain of freshly whipped cream.  When I poured it into the cup I noticed the consistency - almost like a cream soup.  And yes, indeed, it was like drinking melted fudge.  I'm not sure how else to describe it.  I spent an hour reading, writing and sipping chocolate.  If I've every tasted decadence, this was it.  And every detail of service and presentation was impeccable.  Such a delight.

Yes, I eventually left.   The Tuilaries Gardens were calling my name.  Although it was drizzly and gray when we first boarded the bus in the morning, by the time I left Angelinas it was sunny and perfect - about 60 degrees.

It's almost 1 am, so I must close here. The Tuileries, Musee de L'Orangerie, Monet's famous water lillies and a night time cruise on the River Seine are all awaiting the blog - it was a full and fabulous day. I took 250 photos. Yes really.

Tomorrow is Premiere du Mai - May 1st - a national holiday in France. We've been told that most shops and museums are closed, and the city shuts down. So...perhaps I'll have more time to blog.  It will be nice to have a low key day.   We're hoping the city busses are running so we can enjoy some of the parks.

Tonight we saw the dancing lights from the boat - here's the Eiffel Tower shot of the day.

Bon nuit mes amis.

April 29th - not as planned

Bon Soir.  (good evening)  It's 11:10 pm here.  Here's the wee daily update.

Today's plan was to have a leisurely breakfast and then do the orange and blue bus lines since our passes expired today.

Breakfast was just as planned.  Frank went to the market while I got ready and tidied up.  Bon Matin, Frank.  (good morning!)

I do believe that our breakfasts by the window are my favorite part of the day.

We walked to the Invalides bus stop, and then it hit me:  mal a l'estomach.  Stomach troubles.  And so, instead of getting on the bus we hurried to the nearby Musee Rodin - a la toilette!  Our six day museum passes came in handy!

Since we were there we thought we might as well look around again.  I stayed in the garden, wandering about in the shade since I really felt clammy and bad.  Frank looked through more of the museum.  I saw The Gate of Hell - another of Rodin's famous works.  Glad that this will my only view of it.  !!!

Once I felt a wee bit better, we got on the orange bus.  But not for long.  I did not feel well at all.  We stopped for a soda and some baguette - to try to soothe my poor tummy.  Cafe le Petit Pont (the Little Bridge) looked good, and was right across from the bus stop.  I ordered an Orangina, Frank ordered a beer, and we shared a baguette.  I took the opportunity to write a few memories of our travels thus far.

As I read the menu I saw it advertised that this cafe had a full view of the Notre Dame cathedral.  Hmmm.  I told Frank I'd be right back for I was going to go around the corner (to the left in the photo) and see if I could see it.  And when I did... VOILA...I could see it!

But wait, there's more.  The Notre Dame was on my left, and to my right was Shakespeare & Co - the world famous bookstore.  Whew!  I began to feel better.

I quickly walked through, purchasing a blank journal decorated with the store name, and a history of Paris.  When you purchase books they stamp them on the inside cover with "Shakespeare and Co, Paris."  How fun is that?  The books there, by the way, are mostly in English.

I returned to Frank and the lovely cafe, and we decided to forgo the bus since I was afraid that it would not help my tummy to be jostled about all day.  And so we went to the Notre Dame instead.  After another 20 minutes at Shakespeare & Co.  More on that later.

We walked around back to see the flying buttresses.  Amazingly beautiful.  It is built on a quay on the Seine river.

As we walked into Notre Dame, a rush of nostalgia hit me.  I was here in 1980 and sang in the cathedral with an all girls high school choir, Harmony.

In fact, I'm quite sure we sang on these steps in the center of the cathedral.

It was actually a bit overwhelming.  A strange feeling of remembering... but vaguely.

This photo does not do the Rose Window justice - the colors are so vivid.  There are four of them - one facing in each direction.

We likely spent two hours in the cathedral and wandering around the outside looking at the ornate sculpture of its exterior walls.

And we bought a souvenir of this Silver Anniversary trip in the gift shop: a sterling necklace medallion replica of the Rose Window.  Je l'adore!  Isn't it sensational?

And then...back on the bus to start our trip back to Rue Amelie. 

Driving down Rue Royale  ( a short posh shopping avenue) we saw Laduree - the world famous macaroon store.  It was on my list of "must do's" (along with Shakespeare & Co and Notre Dame) and so we stopped.

You may find this hard to believe, but until then neither of us had had any sweet pastry in Paris.  Seulement les baguettes.  (Only baguettes)  We bought an "eight pack" and decided that the wrapping is as sweet as the macaroons.  We didn't taste one until 11 pm - the rest will wait for another day.  It was a green one - no idea what flavor - it tasted like... sugar.  Sweet.  But oh, so Parisien.  The cookie has a meringue like consistency, and the center is like frosting.  When in Paris...

We finally did get back to our sweet little apartment, unloaded our goodies and backpack, and went back to our "favorite" restaurant for fish and chips at a streetside table.  I'll blog about our meals later - but let it be known - we had our first glass of champagne.  It was served with a tiny plate of popcorn!  

We toasted Paris.

And another two firsts - my first cup of cafe blanc  (coffee with milk) and our first Paris dessert - fresh strawberries with a crumble topping and a whole lotta whip cream.  C'est delicieux!! 

Until this cup, we had made coffee in our apartment, and Frank had brought me a Starbucks this morning.  This was our first actual cafe experience.  Strong and wonderful.  And served with a bite of chocolate.  

That coffee is the reason I'm still up blogging at midnight! 

We walked back to the Eiffel Tower to say good night, as we hope to do all eight nights.  At about 8:30 pm it lights up, but at 10 pm the lights sparkle and dance for 5 minutes.  There are no words to describe how breathtaking it is.  I am working on uploading a short video of it - for now here is a photo.  Unfortunately this does not capture the sparkle - I will try a different shutter speed tomorrow night.  We've seen it two nights now - we walked there on Tuesday night too but were too tired from travel to stay until 10!

And yes, I bought 5 more keychains for a Euro (about $1.35)  - another fun nightly ritual.  Perhaps I have gone a bit too far with my keychain bargaining... but it is such fun to laugh with the hawkers, and I'll have a keychain for everyone.  There are at least 25 men selling keychains each night in the park  under the tower.  They are persistent, but we've gotten very good at "Non Merci" after I buy one euros worth!

Bon soir mes amis.  (good night my friends)  Tis time for sweet dreams.  Today was totally not as planned, but magical just the same.  And yes, my tummy is settled and fine - I only felt queasy for a couple hours.

By the way, I've taken over 500 photos thus far, so...I will try to post more in the coming days.  We've been very busy with this bus touring, taking advantage of the three days of 70 degree weather to see the outdoor sites.  Even now I am sitting in front of the open window and it is balmy and breezy and wonderful.   Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, and get cooler.  So... then it will be time to hit the indoors of the museums and to sit at a cafe and sort through photos and record more adventures.

Please leave a comment!  I love hearing from you.

Bon soir!