Last day in Paris

Monday was our last day in Paris and involved a serious ground pound as we hiked from our hotel in the 6th to the 9th and back! All told we walked for about four and a half hours! It was a lovely day in Paris, not a spot of rain which was something the other days all included. As it was Monday, the city was returning to normal so we did some shopping. Purchases included a new bag for Lisa (which we are calling the "doggie bag"), new Carcasonne expansion sets and lavender sachets for our bags. We bought the lavender from an old guy on the street who claimed to have been born in 1934 and remembered seeing the city liberated during WWII as a young boy! He was drunk but full of good cheer and after our purchase he presented Lisa with a huge bouquet of freshly cut lavender. Never one to let a good deed go by without paying it forward, Lisa became the "lavender bandit" and started handing out lavender flowers to random people on the street. Reactions ranged from smiles and "mercis" to shocked looks and avoidance. An hour and a half later we were having dinner at Comptoir near our hotel (yummy but be prepared to wait up to an hour) when one of the families Lisa had thrust lavender upon went by with the mom still holding the lavender to her nose! Nothing like random acts of kindness! After dinner it was time for one more stroll along the Seine before bedtime and an early start for Christos the next day as he had to catch a 6:30 flight to Spain. Lisa could rest a bit longer as the return flight to Toronto was not until 11am.

PARIS NOUS AIMONS!