6.27.2011

Paris: fin!

eek, guess these posts keep getting longer and longer...hope you're hanging in there with me!!

Tuesday - our last full day in Paris didn't have much on the agenda since we had covered so much ground already!  I've gotta say, if you can only visit paris for 2 or 3 days you can definitely do the highlights but you won't get to really feel what the city's all about...but you should still go, even if just as a layover city!  Okay, back to Tuesday...after watching a slew of idiots attempt to navigate the metro ticket machines for what seemed like hours (ps, they have an english option, what's so difficult?!) we were finally on our way to the catacombs!! we got some breakfast at Paul - a large chain Patisserie which was pleasantly delicious! Another side note - holy crapola - i just googled them and found they opened a bakery in DC and in Florida!! WHAAAT?!? if you're near there, GO, right now! report back!! I had an anglais aux abricots (think apricot tarte...basically dessert) for breakfast and it was to die for.  could've eaten 10.  unfortunately, the line to enter the catacombs was not as wonderful as breakfast...it wrapped around the entire square and moved very slowly.  we stood outside in the damp, cool air behind 3 dirty 'couch surfers' who looked like they hadn't brushed their teeth in month.  so annoying.

thank goodness we waited out the line though because it was such a neat experience to be down amongst the bodies of 6 million parisians!  i couldn't believe how far underground the ossuary was or how old the entire structure/quarry system was since it looked like they had been made recently.  definitely less spooky and more fascinating than i expected.  the whole walk through the catacombs took about an hour and then we rode the metro back to St. Germain de Pres.  I was on a mission to go to the chocolate shop we saw a few nights back.  the store itself was gorgeous, only 6 months old, and the chocolate looked heavenly (insanely expensive, but heavenly nonetheless).  we bought 5 macarons and they were the most delicious morsels i had ever eaten!! guess i do like macarons after all, sure do wish i realized that years ago!

later that night we made an impromptu decision to take a boat tour along the seine.  we went to the ones at Pont Neuf since they were the closest ones i knew of.  the boat was a bit cheesy but a nice thing to do on a day without any real plans and gives a totally different perspective of the city/monuments.  after a highly entertaining ride, where we made a game out of taking the worst tourist pictures possible, it was time for dinner!  after much debate we ended up right across from the place we ate the previous night.  this time we were on Rue du Buci at L'Atlas...i made sure we picked a table so our waiter at Cafe de Paris wouldn't see us!  for our last meal we had some awesome boeuf bourguignon served in individual little pots. mmm, mmm, mmm, paris sure did treat our stomachs well!!

Wednesday - up early (7:45) for our 1:25 flight.  after i accidentally locked our passports in the room safe the day before (with some unknown combo) we decided to leave plenty of time to get to the airport...plus dealing with all of the moronic tourists at the train and airport is frustrating enough, no need to throw in the stress of running late!  lucked out with bulkhead/exit row seats...plenty of leg room and space to keep our treats safe for the ride home.

Au revoir!!

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