And then we take Paris!

We left Berlin on Tuesday afternoon, arriving in CDG around 2PM and getting to our hotel before 3. Wine (a very decent sancerre for 14 euros!) was soon acquired at the local Carrefour which we sipped as we rested a bit before heading out for the 30 minute walk through the 1st and 4th to dinner at the wonderful Robert et Louise, a high end wood fired steak joint. 

A wonderful dinner of lamb chops (Christos) and rare steak (Lisa) accompanied by a cote de rhone wine was enjoyed before we embarked on a leisurely evening return stroll to our hotel on Rue des Pyramides. The remainder of the wine procured earlier was dispatched before retiring to bed.

The next day we first visited the Tuileries Gardens just down from the hotel for an after breakfast stroll before a deeper walk into the 4th and surroundings exploring new ground for us. 

We lunched at a popular falafel place that despite the 15 minute wait (which was filled with people watching anyway) was well worth it; the best shawarma we have ever had covered in fresh toppings!

Our wander through the 4th continued during the afternoon with a soap purchase as well as a bottle of white wine from a farmer's market! 

We made it back to the hotel with enough time for a little break before heading out across the Seine to the 6th and one of our favourite places in Paris, Huitrerie Regis , for a dinner of smoked scallop, oysters, bulot and shrimp! 

Dinner was accompanied by a lovely bottle of sancerre and over the next two hours chatted with both the owner, the waitress and the lovely Parisian lady behind us who treated us each to a glass of meursault wine! 

After dinner we wandered to Cafe Des Beaux Arts which to be blunt is not really worth it but is a bit of an institution for us as a place we would have a late night carafe of wine and call Mom from as we looked out at the bank of the Seine (and the traffic). 

The time difference (ie 11PM in Paris versus 6ish in Ontario or 3ish in BC) was ideal for calls and while we decided to bury the tradition, we did so in style by calling some of our closest family and friends and sharing with them the memory of this spot. Ah well, nothing lasts forever. 

After the 1/2 litre of wine and litre of water were done it was time for the 1/2 hour stroll back across the river to our hotel; it was particularly windy and chilly as we crossed the Seine but that did not detract from our enjoyment of such a fine night in Paris.

Thursday in Paris was a stroll north to the cemetery of Montmartre, where we visited the graves of Dalida, Berlioz and others including some unknowns (as pictured!). 

The tour continued along boulevard de Clichy past the Moulin Rouge to rue Des Martyrs and the surrounding area where we shopped for lunch and other goodies. 

We got back to the hotel in the late afternoon and enjoyed a late lunch of the goodies we had bought earlier (with plenty left over for the next day) and then rested a bit before heading out for our lateish (9PM) dinner at La Bourse et La Vie  which served traditional Paris bistro food but upmarket. 

While the pate on artichoke heart appetizer was excellent and the mains were good (rib of veal and steak), the overall value for money was a bit lacking and the experience felt a bit rushed. Still an excellent dinner in Paris. 

Our final day in Paris was the most glorious from a weather perspective with sunny skies and temperatures in the high teens Celsius. We opted for a long stroll west through the Tuileries and then across the Alexander III bridge to arrive at Les Invalides. 

Here we visited the tomb of Napoleon with hardly anyone there unlike the time some twenty years previously when it had been swarming with tourists. 

We also toured the museum visiting the medieval arms and armour displays as well as the Napoleonic arms and armour displays. After a good tour of the museum (and the purchase of some Napoleon socks) we returned to the hotel for a rest before heading out for a long wander north and east through the 2nd, 10th, 3rd and 4th before stopping off for a pint of Guinness in the early evening. 

We had planned for dinner at Chez Michel this evening but were not feeling up to it after all the walking so we cancelled and instead enjoyed a cheap and cheerful dinner in our room from the decent place across the street from our hotel while we watched some shows on Lisa's laptop.

The next day is was a quick breakfast before hopping on the plane to Toronto and home!