Author: rphbaker

We had been on the search for dinner for a while but everything we passed served the same things…pizza, pasta, burgers. All of this had seemed so good when we left the boat but we are already ready for a change since that’s mostly what we have eaten since we disembarked.

Carey made a comment that he was surprised there weren’t more French restaurants. I said we could go to the escargot place which suggested to us all that maybe most people don’t like French food all that much. We weren’t looking for escargot.

After stopping and looking at multiple menus of the same thing and knowing we were just a block from home we stopped at what felt like maybe the frenchiest option.

They had pizza, pasta, and burgers. Mostly kidding although all of those were options. I went with the chicken burger not knowing exactly what a chicken burger was.

Linda had a Greek salad that looked delicious. Greg and Carey had fish and chips.

I’m honestly not sure why they put us inside but it was free from smoke so I’m not mad about it.

After dinner we made the short walk home. Our apartment is up two narrow somewhat curvy sets of stairs.

We found ourselves sitting around blogging, checking sports scores, and chatting. There’s no TV in this apartment and Greg was desperate for some background noise so he was feverishly trying to log into a cable account to get a football game on. It worked for approximately 1 min and then stopped. We somehow ended up watching a Dateline episode that we thought ended at 10pm. We thought we were so close to finding out who the killer was only to realize it was a 90 min show.

None of us predicted the killer. Such a nail biter.

After logging 28,100 steps I’m ready for bed. Tomorrow we will check out of our apartment and make our way to a hotel near the airport after we do some last minute sightseeing. Only time will tell if we are all crammed into one room or if Greg will get things straightened out with the Hilton.

When we were near the Eiffel Tower I had wondered when it would be illuminated. Greg had ventured a guess of 6-6:30 which felt right based on when we thought the sun set.

I’d been on the hunt for the perfect lemon crepe. I wasn’t going to get one unless it seemed like it was going to be legit. I found the perfect crepe stand near the entrance to the Louvre/Tuileries.

The area was buzzing with people. We sat and enjoyed the views and people watched for a bit.

We left the Louvre and started walking back towards our apartment in search of dinner. We came upon a group of couples dancing in an open area. Not sure if it was a class or just a random gathering but fun to watch for a bit regardless!

We decide to walk along the Seine on our long walk back to the apartment.

Greg had completely forgotten he had brought a Coke Light. When Carey mentioned he was thirsty and I offered him my water bottle he remembered his Coke. He had to pose.

Let’s play a game of would you rather? Would you rather be on this boat?

We came upon the playground where the kids had taken that pic back in 2017 or whatever year it was. I suggested Greg and I reenact one of the pics. I asked Carey to take our pic. I legit had no clue what I had suggested. Those swings were high! It was basically a ninja warrior course trying to get up there. Carey captured it all.

Now….to get down.

That wasn’t my brightest idea.

Last summer, Greg tried to take us to his favorite viewing spot to see the Eiffel Tower but it was closed for Olympic prep. Today based on the number of people milling about it’s clearly back open.

He was right. The views were spectacular.

We walked down to get a picture of the rings. It was a complete free for all. There was a line of people waiting to get their picture on the rings but then people started putting random kids up there and taking pics off to the side. Also people started just hopping up on the other side of the rings for pics. I was just trying to get a pic with no people in between all the posing but it didn’t really work out that way.

We started walking toward the Champs-Elysees.

They were having a car auction today!

We found a place to sit at an outdoor cafe near the road.

After lunch we walked toward the Arc de Triomphe and did some window shopping.

Maybe we should rent a sports car for the day.

We have covered a lot of ground but we aren’t done yet. Next stop is the Eiffel Tower.

But first lots more sights.

We made our way to the museum and grabbed our audio guides.

We decided to start in the garden.

I’m gonna be real honest. Greg and I like art museums but we aren’t as culturally sophisticated as Carey and Linda. We were buzzing around listening to what we wanted to but definitely not all of it.

Greg needed to try to make changes to our Hilton reservation Monday evening so he decided to try and call them to see what he could get done.

I’m outing ourselves to Carey and Linda but what is this we see? A cafe? Sure. Twist our arms.

We might have over ordered.

The real winner was the citron tart.

Greg was still fighting with Hilton so we stayed outside for most of the time so he could talk on the phone.

Now inside…

We are all finished at the museum so it’s off to find lunch. Carey and Linda’s first lunch. Mine and Greg’s second…I mean not really. We just had a lunch appetizer.

Oh and we still never got our Hilton reservation completely fixed.

The Rodin museum is basically right behind Les Invalides. We have almost arrived.

As we were walking toward the Tuileries we noticed a lot of kids in Halloween costumes.

The last time we were here the Tuileries weren’t open due to the Olympic preparations. They are open now and crowded.

We heard birds in the trees and Greg swore he saw green parakeets. He pointed up to the tree. I apparently looked at the wrong bird.

Our ultimate destination is the Rodin Museum but we are taking the scenic route. I don’t even know how to organize today’s events so this will mostly be random posts with tons of pics.

We walked through an open air market with people selling all sorts of foods.

Greg was almost positive we were close to the kitchen store that we went to last summer. It did look like the same area.

After doing some laundry and enjoying our two bathrooms we were ready to leave the apartment around 9:30am. First stop is breakfast at a patisserie that was recommended by our host.

Finally we arrived at Stohrer. This patisserie supposedly was a supplier for the Queen of England. If it was good enough for her then it’s good enough for me!

I love all the pastries in French bakeries. Why can’t we have this variety?

I tried to order the chaussons aux pommes but I guess they couldn’t understand my Dolly Parton French accent so what I got was a croissant. I’m not mad.

After grabbing food I ran in the pharmacie behind their van to buy some face cream. They were very nice.