Saturday October 11th 2014 – Paris, France
Bonjour from Paris!
Today turned out better than expected, as the forecast had been for rain pretty much the whole time we’re here, however Mother Nature has had a change of heart and today we had a lovely sunny day with just a touch of wind.
We left our cute little apartment – I’m absolutely in love with it – it is located in St Germain, and is something like I’d imagined one of my favourite WW2 book characters to have lived in (have you ever read Wild Lavender by Belinda Alexandra?). It is a collection of apartments behind a huge wooden door, which you need a code to open. You then have to be buzzed in or have a key into the building itself, and take this tiny two person elevator up to the fourth floor and then climb another floor by stairs. It has one small bedroom, one small bathroom – with an electric toilet haha – and a small lounge which has a kitchenette. The ceiling is sloped, and I’m guessing this used to be the attic
As for the City being dirty and smelly, I have not had this impression – although there are occasional dog poos along the side of the footpath, but nothing super noticeable. There are heeeeaps of French Bulldogs here, ugh I love them so much, they are so freaking cute! Do you think customs will notice if I put one in my bag??
As for everyone being stunningly well manicured, there are plenty of people like this, but I’d say no more than London (or Wellington even).
Our next stop was Notre Dame. I like love this church! And not just because I loved Esmerelda as a child, but I just think it is so beautiful. Sure, St Peters in Rome is amazingly ornate and probably the favourite in the world, but Notre Dame tops the church list for me so far with its dark and mysterious gothic architecture, and beautiful stained-glass windows.
From here we wandered along the La Seine, looking at the bits and pieces on offer in the stalls that run along both sides – there are lots of lovely things to buy, and I note that they are still selling padlocks regardless of the whole #lovewithoutlocks thing going down at the moment.
We passed the Louvre, which we will visit another day, and the military hospital.
Jarrod is spending the afternoon and evening with his friend, Dragan, which is fantastic.. I’m sure they never thought they’d see each other again, let alone in Paris!
Fiona and I came back to the apartment for a bit of a kip before heading out to dinner – I must’ve been shattered, ’cause I fell asleep on the ice pack… Which is probably a good thing!
For dinner we went to a recommended (by Paul again) little restaurant that does a great cassoulet dish (for those who don’t know, this is like a casserole that takes a long time to cook), which had pork sausage, duck leg, beans, and a whole heap of delicious stocky sauce. Comfort food at it’s best!! We also had some Fois Gras as a starter, and the funny thing about this wee place is that they had toasters on each table to toast your bread for the fois gras! I’d definitely recommend this place – it’s down a back alley and is called Domaine de Lintillac.
Well, I’m off to rest my feet and sleep! Bonsoir, see you tomorrow xx
WHEREISLAUS 