France Trip Day 8: Paris

Thursday, June 15: Breakfast (avec un ami), Favorite Walk, Cocktail River Cruise

Mr. E and I enjoyed breakfast at our apartment and then met up with a friend, J, for "second breakfast" at a café on nearby Rue des Petits Carreaux, a wonderful pedestrian street with lots of shops and restaurants. We then strolled south a bit so that J could show us the royal bake-shop before bidding him au revoir and returning to our apartment to make plans for our one full day in Paris.

We started by taking the métro to the Arc de Triomphe and meandering down the Champs-Elyseés towards the Jardin des Tuileries, my favorite walk in central Paris, and stopped along the way for a crêpe au citron (also my favorite) and a Perrier. The temperature was climbing into the 80s, so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible and veered off into some side streets rather than continuing straight through the Place de la Concorde into the Jardin. We admired the rainbow flag placard outside the American Embassy but were prohibited by the guard from taking a photograph for security reasons.

After a few pauses for souvenirs, we crossed through the courtyard of the Louvre on our way to the Ile de la Cité as I really wanted to see the work being done on Notre Dame after the devastating fire several years ago. Since Paris is going to host the Summer 2024 Olympics, we noticed lots of different construction projects all over the city, and the renovation on the cathedral is anticipated to be done in time for the games as well. It was fascinating to read about and see photos of the aftermath of the fire along with the immense amount of work both completed and in progress to repair and renovate the historic building.

We headed back towards our apartment and got lunch at the nearby Mister Garden, a fast casual spot with yummy fresh salads (similar to the Eat Salad restaurant in Bordeaux). During my earlier walks around our area, I had stumbled upon a cat café just around the corner from our apartment, so of course I had to show it to Mr E.

I also saw another cat themed spot during our various wanderings, although we didn't stop to check out the menu since we weren't quite ready for lunch at that point.

After resting our feet a bit at the apartment, we decided to get tickets for an early evening cocktail cruise on the Seine. This is one of our favorite activities, as it's such a great way to see the city from a different perspective! We walked back to the Seine, making sure to stop by Les Halles along the way to check out the cool new canopy structure that J had told us about (he's not a fan). The cruise was accompanied by music rather than the typical commentary, so it was a lovely way to wrap up our day of walking and kick-off the evening. 

Back to the apartment for dinner (poke from a restaurant around the corner), French TV, and bed. Only one day in Paris, but we made the most of it!