Paris Encore and Au revoir

 

On the morning of the 9th of September we had a great breakfast, packed up our room, and the ship desk called a cab for our short ride just beyond the tower to our next hotel. This was our view that morning from the ship as we waited for the cab.

 

After a short ride we arrived at the Hotel l'Academie just off the Boulevard St. Germain in the 6th Arrondisement. The hotel was a mixture of old French charm and all the modern electronic devices we are used to today. A very large room by local standards and very well appointed.

The exterior of the place on the corner with dozens of cafes and shops within a short stroll.

 

And stroll we did. We hiked a dozen blocks in each direction looking a some of our old haunts and just enjoying Paris on a couple of cool but pleasant days. We walked over to the Notre Dame and Ille de Cite of course and also went into the department store called Bon Marche. Bon Marche literally translated means cheap, but the store is way beyond cheap. It has many floors of all the top named merchandise plus many art displays. The one below is a functional bicycle pedi-cab made from a 1940's Italian car that was cut in half and is for sale for a mere 39,000 Euros ($50,000 or so).

One day we spent touring the Musee d'Orsay which has the largest collection of impressionistic art in the world. The whole interior has been redone since we were there eight years ago but the Monet collection is as wonderful as always. We had to go back to the museum now that we had just seen most of the places that Monet captured in his paintings and it really brought them new meaning.

On the evening of the 11th we decided to have a nice dinner and simply went around the corner from our hotel to the Perron restaurant on Perronet street. Earlier in the day on one of our walks we had stopped by and talked to the owner and he said that he prepared sabayone as a desert so we were sold.

After a perfect dinner of Italian special dishes the food gourmet below samples this melt-in-your-mouth delicacy. This time consuming desert is made from egg whites, some vanilla, and sugar, beat for about ten minutes over a low flame, and the froth poured over some Grand Marnier until it flows into the plate below. Whole dinner of three courses and four glasses of wine came to 111 Euros or about $130.

On the morning of the 12th we went about a block to Boulevard St. Germain again for breakfast and stopped into the world famous Les Deux Magots restaurant. Below is an artistic rendition of the place of famous artists and literary greats.

Our waiter was charming and actually quite funny as he got our ham and cheese omelets, croissants and coffee. When we told him we spoke a little French and then that we were from Texas he said, "Ah you must speak Cowboy as well, eh?"

 

That evening we cabbed over to the Hilton at the airport, then next morning hopped our sleeper ride back to the US, spent another night at the Embassy Suites at Detroit airport and then were back in Barrie on the 14.

What an adventure that went perfectly for our anniversary ... where to next, eh!?