Day 38 - October 8 - Paris

We hopped out of bed, went to a different patisserie for hot chocolate, croissants and coffee - not as good as Paul's. We took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. It was so crowded even for a Monday morning. We stood in line for over an hour!

Finally got on the elevator - eek! It goes up at an angle and then goes straight up to the second observation level. Wow what a fantastic view. It was hazy that day, but the view was still good - I can only imagine how great a view it would be on a clear day. We stayed for about 30 minutes buying a few postcards and taking a photo for a couple from Texas - we know as they asked "Would ya'll tak a photo of us?" We hadn't heard 'ya'll' in almost six weeks!

We left the Eiffel Tower and proceeded to walk through Parc du Champ Mars. We took Avenue Bourdonnais, over to Ave De La Motte Picquet. I found Cafe Le Florimond which I had heard was good. They were full inside for lunch, but there was one table outside where the owner sat us. It was a good 21 euro fixed price lunch menu! The owner, Laurent, was so nice and spoke excellent English - loved his colorful tie! I had a gnocchi with spinach, marinated lamb with mustard sauce, rice/banana/raisin gateau (like a timbale). David had canard with mashed potatoes on top, cucumber salad, and a chocolate mousse.

We left and walk to the famous Rue Cler and its famous market, past Rue Grenville. Got a citron/sugar crepe on the corner of Rue Cler. Rue Cler was OK, but seemed a bit trashy - it has been overexposed by several travel guides whose names won't be mentioned.

We walked past Rue Bosquet all the way to Tour Marbourg and back to our apartment. I really liked the 7th arrondissment - it was quieter, more like a neighborhood with trees lining the streets and not so touristy.

Tonight was the night of our evening cruise on the Seine River. We had an 20:00 (8 pm) reservation. We walked from our apartment all the way to Vedettes Pont-Neuf boat dock. It was quite crowded, but we boarded quickly and got seats on the side of the boat. It was a bit chilly - but wonderful and well worth it. This is a must do in Paris!!

We sailed up the river towards the Eiffel Tower. It was lit up with flashing white lights, then static white lights, then white lights on the bottom and green lights on the top of the tower. So beautiful! We turned around and sailed to Notre Dame and Il de Cite and back to the Pont Neuf dock. You could see people in their apartments on the river, having dinner, watching the TV. It was lovely, I want an apartment on the Seine River!

We walked back and stopped at Cafe Le Ponthieu about one block from our apartment. I thought it was a nice little place with decent food. David got a cheeseburger and ordered it medium, however, this is France and it shows up pretty rare! He eats it anyway. I ordered a croque madame- good! We had a 1/2 liter of house white wine.

Off to bed as we had to be up a little early for our tour on bikes to Versailles.