Paris: Day 2

We went out today with the intention of getting bicycles again - big fail. The machines did not want our money. So walking it is. We stopped for a small breakfast at La Mie Caline which is down the street (pretty much) from the hotel. We also attempted to make reservation. s for the train to barcelona tomorrow. - not successful yet but later in the day it will be completed. We walked through Quartier Latin - which was reminiscent of Amsterdam with the small streets filled with restaurants catered to tourists, souvenir shops, and creperies. The Latin Quarter is filled with many students because the university is in this area - La Sorbonne.

Lunch was eaten at Auberge Notre Dame - located, as you can guess, next to the Notre Dame. We sat outside and had pasta in a spicy tomato sauce. Yum. Luckily the restaurant is not filled with tourists.

After lunch we visited Ile de la Cite. It is in the middle of the Seine - the Notre Dame is on the island. We did a bit of shopping at Nina Kendosa. Then we walked to the Jewish Quarter. It is not labeled as such but a friend of M's family told us its location. After the Jewish quarter, we walked to Le Bastille. There was a Sri Lanka protest occurring right next to it. Le Bastille was destroyed during the Revolution and now its a square with an obelisk. The actual building of Le Bastille does not exist anymore because it was destroyed on July 14, 1789 - independence day for France.


Side note: spelling mistake yesterday: Arc de Triomphe. Yesterday we also visited: the oldest bridge (in Paris) called Pont Neuf, Place de la Concorde - it is the end of Champs Elysees, and we biked by Des Invalides.


Now back to today. After Le Bastille, we walked back through the Jewish Quarter. Then we came back, changed and went to Montmartre. We saw the Sacre-Coeur which is overlooking much of Paris. It was beautiful. We walked the area around it, which is covered in restaurants, street artists, and little shops. Dinner was eaten at La Mere Catherine which is located on Place de Tertre. We met a couple at the table next to us who were very sweet - even M liked them! We exchanged knowledge about Paris - what we have seen and places they have seen - knowledge about tipping practices in various countries (USA as opposed to Europe. In the USA tipping is mandatory, but not just tipping - tipping a large percentage of the bill). Then the 4 of us took a gondola down the Montmartre hill instead of walking down all the steps. M and I bought a bottle of wine (during the walk to the gondola) and selected the fine bottle by comparing price and alcohol content - be proud of me Mom!

By the way, a reservation for the train to Barcelona was made before dinner. So no worries, we will be in Spain by Tuesday morning. And M and I hope to see/speak to P and C again (the couple we ate next to at dinner)!!