SATURDAY 9TH JUNE

In the morning we headed to Isle de Cite, which lies in the Seine River nexto Isle St Louis, in the middle of all the ancient buildings in the Latin Quarter and Hotel d'Ville and the Louvre on the other side of the river. It was Notre-Dame that we had a look at first and managed to beat the crowd, though there were a major number that had made it there before us! It is a very special place. We headed back to the appartment, via Le Petit Cafe for a hot chocolate and to pick up jackets (the weather was a bit dubious) and to Rue St Germaine-des-Prey, where the 2 famous restaurants Cafe de Flore and Deux Margots lie side by side. 

On this occasion we were to meet Mary (my cousin) and Robert (her partner) at Cafe de Flore, we found a table on the first floor. It is a very classy place, the window outside has masses of flowers and plants growing, so you can't see anything else. The menu comes in a booklet and one of the bottles of Champagne on offer would set you back 2,500 euros. The waiters I think were failed actors, they had the attitude of the place. We shared a nice lunch however and it was nice to celebrate 2 birthdays on this occasion (both on Monday). To think that you can organise this from opposite sides of the world and get together just like that, in a foreign city to all of us. They had further plans involving bikes.


We went on to explore the St Germaine. Had a look around Isle the city, at shops and had a crepe from one of the vendors in the street behind Notre Dame, sat in the gardens behind the Cathedral and watched all the pidgeons bullying each other and one sparrow took off with the tough bit of biscuit that the others had been fighting over for ages! Our route home is quite fun, so many things to look at. The little greek creperie was in full swing again, queue down the street.

As the conditions were dry we went up a few streets that lead off from the route and are full of restaurants of all varieties. Dinner was at home, as we had done a shop in the morning.

SUNDAY 10/6/12

Today we decided on the cruise, though it was more of a hop on, hop off boat. It was called the batobus. It went from Jardin Les Plantes to the Eiffel tower, with stops along the way. It was a nice cruise to the Eiffel tower. We headed to Trocadero first for some croissants and look around, this was one of Guy's original stamping grounds.

The queue was already growing when we got back and some lifts not working. We did end up with some tickets to the top and requiring some lifts from level 2, initally it was up many, many stairs. It was the first time that either of us had done the river trip and go up to the top of the Eiffel.

The weather was overcast but not raining, perfect for viewing and photos. The view was very different then from level 2, for example the Sacre Coeur was very hard to see from the very top as it blends in with whatever is behind it. We explored the place extensively, there are many renovations happening at the moment as well, so some parts were not available.

Back on ground level we found a little cafe called Gustave where we had more onion soup. The waiter was very jolly and friendly. Our boat was just pulling in when we arrived back on the dock and we got off at Musee d'Orsay, which is close to Champs Elysees.

A Paul's had a littte cafe in Rue Franklin D Roosevelt, with really nice hot chocolate and macaroons and cake. At this stage the rain was beginning and we thought catching the boat back would be nice and we did get back to the Eiffel (as it was part of the route to get back home), and even left there, before the boat did a turn and went back. Confusion reigned and lots of talk of police not allowing boats to dock and accidents, and eventually about a car ending up in the river. Of course at the 3 stops that interested us. There was delay and delay but eventually they set sail and we headed to St Germaine-des-Pres. We walked in the rain via the docks and found that the Sud market was finishing up and Guy enquired of some vendors back up at street level about their apricots and cherries. He carted home 2 KG of both worth 4 euros total! Yum. They go really well with the Sauvignon wine we still have of the Chateau Dame Blanche.