Today was our last full day in Paris–we leave for London tomorrow morning! My legs are shot! SO MANY stairs!! But I’ve loved it so much, especially the FOOD. And the CHEESE!!
Notre Dame
We started out with the breakfast buffet at our hotel. It was complete and delicious as it has been every day! We then caught the hop on hop off bus near the Louvre and took it to Notre Dame Cathedral. I had been there before but Seth had not. Mass was actually going on!
I do think the cathedral is BEAUTIFUL, but (and I don’t want to start any controversy here) I can’t help but lament the fact that the Church (not just Catholic) would spend SO MUCH wealth on structures such as this, yet so many of their believers go hungry and without. Just saying….. But it IS a beautiful place!
Another interesting fact–the construction of Notre Dame began almost exactly 100 years after 1066, the year the Normans invaded and conquered England. I have to do more research on this (yes, I am a history nerd), but it makes one wonder if part of the wealth came from looting the churches in England. Just a thought.
Sainte Chapelle
After Notre Dame we visited Sainte Chapelle. It is another beautiful religious structure. We walked around the ground floor wondering, “is this it??” but then we saw the stairs (ugh, more stairs) and the second floor was spectacular!
The Latin Quarter and Luxembourg Gardens
After the chapel we headed to the Latin Quarter, near the Sorbonne. We had lunch at a lovely restaurant called Le Soufflot. We met a couple from the US there who had moved to the South of France to live. She was from Baltimore and he was from LA. They were flying beck to California because their son was graduating from medical school! They were so nice! We had a delicious lunch. Seth had a duck dish with a honey based sauce, and I had Salade Dalou–a salad with shrimp, smoked salmon and avocado. Everything was delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there!
After lunch we walked by the Pantheon, then headed to Luxembourg Gardens. The green space here is so beautiful and relaxing! I did mention to Seth how interesting it is that there is such a Christian focus, but there are so many statues of Green and Roman gods/goddesses around. I think they were hedging there bets!!
Laduree and La Coupe d’Or
My feet were killing me so, instead of visiting Montparnesse Tower and St German de Pres, we took the subway back to our hotel. After a brief rest, we headed for Laduree to buy some macaroons per the recommendation of my friend Kathy.
Last of all, for our last dinner in Paris, we went to La Coupe d’Or on Rue de Saint Honore. We shared a lovely bottle of Chablis while Seth ate a veal dish which was one of the Plate du Jours and I had a Salade avec Chevre Chaude which was the house salad. For dessert we had a crepe with nutella and bananas. It was delightful!
After enjoying our last full day in Paris, we slept soundly! Tomorrow we will be bidding au revoir to Paris and heading to London. I hope to add some additional pics from our sightseeing in Paris before I begin the London chapter of our blog! You can read about the beginning of our London adventures here.