Paris, Ah Paris
We are home. We enjoyed a flight from Paris to Singapore on a newly refurbished Singapore Airlines plane. I watched 4 inflight movies! 21 hours in Singapore of shoe shopping and squeezing in as much food as possible.
Paris was beautiful. The skies were grey but the autumn colours of the trees more than made up for it. We arrived at Orly about midday and made it to our B and B near Gare du Lyon(or Gary Lion as we took to calling it) safely. Our room was in a gorgeous Parisian apartment, staying at a B and B was a blessing as our host was very helpful with advice and recommendation. We choofed of to the Place Vosges after picking up a delicious Felafel sandwich for lunch. A short metro ride later and we were at the Eiffel Tower for sunset. We made it all the way to the top by which time Paris was aglow with shades of pink. We caught the last boat home down the Siene with the tower sparkling on the hour behind us.
To top of a first great day, we were recommended to dinner at local bistro A La Biche Au Bois near home. For 25.90euro, we were treated to 4 amazing courses - entree, main, cheese and dessert! We had an aperitif to start with complimentary olives whilst we perused the menu. The air was thick with smoke and the sounds of lively French chatter. The food was amazing with a capital Delicious. Any entree that comes with a pot of cornichons is my kind of entree. J had mushrooms with puff pastry and I had duck terrine. I enjoyed a wild boar stew with mashed potatoes for main and J had steak and frites. Divine. And then the cheese, Oh MY God, the cheese. The waiter carried out a tray of cheese stacked high of 6 different cheeses from which you could choose. Dear lord. My eyes were as big as wheels of camembert. I thought I would explode from such goodness. Later after the creme brulee and armaganac, I did.
Day 2 we tackled the Lourve. One could spend an entire year here and not see everything. Still everytime I see that glass pyramid, my skin tingles. We walked through the Jardin Tuileries and sat by the fountain watching life go by. We could not very well go to Paris and not go on the ferris wheel. J did propose to me on one and our first date was on one. So on the wheel we went despite the 8 euro price tag. As if this wasn’t enough for one day, we went on to Montmartre to wander and to see the Sacre Couer. We had to have a tart and cafe au lait pit stop to soothe the aching legs. The organ was playing in the church when we visited but the hordes of tourists marred the experience from me with the camera flashes and jostling. We tried to book Moulin Rouge tickets for Friday but they only had tickets for the 11pm show that night so we decided that would have to do! A few smses later and I thankfully received recommendations for a restaurant that night. Woot. Chez Toinette was a cute lil bistro hidden away on the winding streets of Montmartre. We enjoyed great service and a delicious meal again complete with cheese platter to share. By the time it was showtime, we were completely exhausted but the show must go on. The Moulin Rouge was easily the most expensive thing we did on holiday. It was a lot of glitz and boobs and more boobs.
Day 3 we went to the Musee D’orsay. Our host had recommended booking tickets for museums at FNAC(a local music shop which we did on the first day) Boy, were we glad for it the next day when we saw the queue. We sailed straight in. After spending some time with scupltures and paintings, we had a bad tourist meal in St Germain Du Pres followed by a walk around the Notre Dame. They were celebrating mass when we visited. Sadly the second level had closed for the day when we got there. Our last meal in Paris was in the Marais. J tried steak tartare and I had a duck confit leg. Both delicious. We bid Paris farewell sadly and wished we had more time to spend there. It was a very full on few days.
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