Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Paris, Again

Like all great adventures, I have now come full circle.  The ending and the beginning are one.  Back in Paris, only this time with John.  I have traveled many places, and seen many sights.  Now, I was returning to a city I was already familiar with, and taking time to enjoy the atmosphere. 


We awoke to a beautiful crisp morning.  Our hotel was not far from the Ile St. Louis, and it was to there that we walked for a breakfast of crepes.  We then wandered some of the historic core, walking past Notre Dame and a few of the big sights.  We walked through the exterior of the Louvre, giving John some sense of its immensity.

After wandering the historic core, we then took the metro to Montmarte, and walked up the hill to Sacre Coure.  We enjoyed a lunch lower on the steps, then walked to the top of the steps, where we sat for quite some time, listening to a thoroughly enjoyable street performer.  He was a singer from Italy, who sang mostly American songs, joked mostly in English with a smattering of other languages thrown in, and had a great talent for getting the entire audience interested and involved.  He would frequently ask people in the crowd where they were from, and reveled in the fact that on those steps were people from all 5 continents, all gathered in harmony, enjoying the same thing.  Later, we walked through the shops and artists around Montmarte, then headed back to our hotel. 


For dinner, we ate at a great restaurant in the Latin district.  This area is called the Latin district, since it contained one of the oldest Universities, and back in the 12th and 13th centuries, Latin was the language of learning.  It was the common language to the people of all of the different countries who gathered there, spoken so everyone could understand.  It has always been the area known for free thinkers, where ideas of liberty and equality were bred.  These days, you will no longer find Latin spoken, but it is still a lively scene.  The first restaurant we passed looked pretty good, and as we wandered deeper into the neighborhood, each restaurant looked even better, and for better prices, until finally we settled on one.  It was a lengthy and multiple course meal, with every bite absolutely delicious! 


Following dinner, we headed to the Eiffel Tower.  After the lengthy dinner, we got there a bit later than planned, and it was no longer open nearly as late as it had been during my visit in August.  Unfortunately, the very top was closed, but we could still go up to the second observation deck.  There is something thoroughly romantic about being up on the Eiffel Tower at night, seeing the sights of Paris, after a wonderful French meal, with the person you love!  A fun way to end the trip. 

1 comment:

  1. you snooty Amereecaun! you deescrace my ceety with your snootiness! go snoot back een Amereecah. when you are een my ceety you must learned to spell zee deestreects correctly - eet eez Montmartre. . .montmartRe. Sacre bleu! Et toureests from all 5 conteenents? Aah, i cahnnot stand zee Amereecaun ahrrogahnce any longer. Sortez! Leave my contree! Out weeth you!

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