We bid au revoir to Carol and Shoe early this morning as they headed off to the RER B to train up to Charles de Gaulle from Les Halles. Â At 8, we headed over to our new apartment to check in with Emy and Carol, arriving from the states this morning. Halfway there, Mike’s phone rang, Emy and Carol were already at the apartment scoping it out.
Carol and Emy, whipped from their trip, enjoy a petit dejeuner!
Once we arrived, we headed over to a cafe around the corner for a petit dejeuner of juice, coffee, omelet and croissant. Â Emy and Carol were looking forward to some protein; all they had was a stale danish at 5 AM on the airplane. Â After a quick catch up, we headed back to our old apartment to get our suitcases and lug them here. Â We had arrived/left here via 4 different ways on the Metro — and NONE of them had escalators. Â So I called a taxi and had him pick us up at our old apartment on the right bank and drive us to the new one on the left bank.
The view from the street door to our apartment
While we were away, Emy and Carol strolled around the neighborhood, checking out Boulangeries, ATMs, and other important stuff. Â We unpacked and settled in, they arrived and reported that it was now raining. Â Exhausted from their flight — no sleep. Â They napped a power nap, while Mike and I went out to see what food options are around.
The sun had come out and we found multiple boulangeries, a poissonerie, butchers, traiteurs, restaurants, bistros, grocery store (even a city Carrefour), wine stores, antique shops, boutiques: everything one could need! Â We walked over to the street market at rue Cler and picked up some Maubriar cheese and some Rochamblau – two I really like. Â We picked up two demi baguettes (one with whole grains, one with poppy seeds). Â Back to the apartment to pick up our Carrefour grocery bags, and head back with our list of necessities. Â Once those were purchased and settled in the kitchen, off we go for wine. Â We found bottles of red (Cotes du Rhone) and a rose by the bag (rose de Cotes de Provence).
Late Afternoon Lunch
We had a late afternoon lunch of cheese, bread, sausage, fruit (green plums, peaches, apples, grapes) and wine. Â Dinner will be at a neighborhood bistro a couple of blocks from our apartment. Â During our snack, Emy and Carol made reservations for a day trip to Giverny and for a 2-day pass on the Open Tour bus for Wednesday and Thursday. Â Tomorrow Emy, Carol, Mike and I will head to the massive street market along Bd Grenelle and pick up rotisserie chicken for dinner, fresh fruit and vegetables.
We headed out for dinner at La Source, a restaurant just two blocks away, along La Tour Maubourg, right at the Metro station. Â Carol had steak, Mike had chicken, Emy and I had fish – boy was I surprised when they served me the whole fish. Â After dinner we headed to Hotel-de-Ville to check out Paris’ 9th Annual Nuit Blanche. Â Neon sayings in multiple languages “aimer les differences” have been installed all over the facade. Â We walked along the Seine, viewed the light display on Ile-St. Louis, and all the dinner cruise and tourist boats all along the Seine. Â We hopped the Metro at Louvre-Palais Royale and headed home. Â At midnight, we all hung out our front windows to watch the Eiffel Tower do it’s magical light dance. Â The evening has been mild, warm, and no rain; we are very lucky!
Our Living Room
We had received an e-mail from Lou and Sandy, that they had arrived home about 6 PM on Friday. Â As far as we know, Shoe and Carol are still traveling.
Our little dining room in the 7th!
Our kitchen
Flashing lights on the Eiffel Tower!
A Horse Drawn Carriage Right Outside Our Window
