Our last day in Paris!

 

After the cold wave that hit Paris yesterday, and walking back from dinner and REALLY freezing, it was a relief to get into our lovely and really warm room last night!  In fact, it was so warm that R never got under the duvet at all!  I had been trying to figure out, with the weather being what it is, and R not having a really good coat with him, what we could do today that was indoors.  I hadn’t really come up with much, other than possibly re-visiting and touring the Opera Garnier, which we haven’t done in some years.  But truly, it is such an incredible building that it is worth seeing more than once!  I was up this morning really early (about 4-ish) only to find that the Keck schedule from Hawaii had been released – which really put paid to any plans R had for today!

 

R had been waiting for several weeks for the schedule to come out, as his next assignment is to go over it carefully and check and make sure that all is well.  He’s been talking about it, and I was just hoping it would finally get here and not at a point where it would be really totally inconvenient! (Like Thanksgiving…)  As it turns out, though, the timing is perfect!  I can have a day to wander myself in one of my favorite cities, and Rcan work and stay inside all day and not have to walk anywhere!  What could be better than that!  (I have a few suggestions, but …)

 

We had so much to eat last night for dinner, that neither of us wanted to have the lovely buffet breakfast that they have here at Les Grands Hommes!  Truly, it would be wasted on us!  So, instead, R got right to work.

 

For everyone who knows me, you know how obsessive I happen to be about doing laundry … and here at the Grands Hommes, we are just a block or so away from my very favorite Parisien laundromat!  So, even though we don’t absolutely have to have it done in order to get home cleanly, I decided to take things there and do a wash.  (Of course we carry laundry pods…)  So, I packed up my backpack with dirty laundry, double dressed in my long-sleeve t-shirt with cashmere sweater on top, took the umbrella, and headed out. 

 

Brrrr…it was supposedly 37 but felt like 31 … which, funnily enough, it did!  I went first to the local BNP Paribas bank to “top up” as it were, our Euros.  I always like to take some home, so we can have something for the next trip.  And, at that BNP, you can get money in multiple denominations, not just 50’s, which is great.  That taken care of, I headed to the laundromat.  Followed the instructions on the machine and got it started – 4€ to run the load; 28 minutes on cold.  From there, I walked down to our local Carrefour (convenience) store and picked up a six-pack of sparkling Perrier water.  Then back to the laundromat.  Laundry done very quickly and efficiently, and I loaded it into a dryer.  The interesting thing about many French people – they wash, but do not dry!  Hard to wrap my mind around the concept, but each to their own!

 

On high heat, the drying only took 20 minutes, and voila!  Things were dry!  Refolded everything and stuffed it back into the backpack.  From there, went back down to Rue Royer Collard and our favorite patisserie for two croissants for R, and one pain-au-chocolat for me.  Wow!  Brought everything back to the hotel and we had a fabulous breakfast!  Seriously, the pastries were SO amazing!  Definitely going to miss those, for sure!

 

At this point, I decided that I wanted to look for Gabriel Coulet, and thought about where best to look.  GabrielCoulet makes absolutely the best Roquefort cheese ever!  We had it first at Nathalie and Pascal’s lovely home in Saint-Affrique several years ago, and then we found some in Utah (!) this past September.  It is amazing!!  But short of another trip to Utah, I really wanted more, and R suggested that maybe getting it in Paris might be an idea!  I had checked at a couple of cheese shops when we came through here before we went to Tunisia, but wasn’t able to locate it.  So this morning, it occurred to me to try the amazing food halls at Bon Marche!  So!  Field trip!

 

First, though, I had to re-activate my Decouverte card for the public transportation, so down into the bowels of the Luxembourg RER station.  That being accomplished, I then needed to find the Luxembourg stop for the 84 bus.  It came very quickly, and I was on my way!  The difficulty at the moment is that they are tearing up Rue de Vaugirard, and once past St. Sulpice, things get really dicey!  Got off at Sevres, which is the normal stopping point, and from there made my way to the store.

 

That’s when things got confusing!  It has been almost 20 years since we did any real shopping at Bon Marche!  We found it when we followed the Tour de France in 2006, but that was a while ago!  So, plunged into the store, only to be totally surrounded by beautiful luxury goods – purses, shoes, etc. – lovely things, but definitely not what I was looking for!  I found the store map, and tried to make heads or tails of things, and wandered up on to the first level (remember that the ground floor is “0” and the basement is “1-“ in Europe.)  

 

Lovely marble statue in park next to Bon Marche

Bon Marche from the park

Had another look at the map, and finally realized that there are TWO Bon Marche’s – one for “things” and the other for “home!”  This second store was across the street, and you had to take the walkway crossing over the street, which just happened to be on the first level (floor 1).  Found this fairly easily, and once I realized I was heading toward wine bottles, I knew I was heading in the right direction!

 

Truly an amazing store!  Items from all over the world!!  I was so disappointed this past year when we visited Harrod’s food stalls, which used to be the world’s best, but are nowhere near this standard anymore!  Such fun!  I found the Fromagerie and again, voila!  There was the Roquefort!  Several different kinds, including – Gabriel Coulet!!  A very nice young man who spoke excellent English assisted me, and we had a lovely conversation about cheeses.  His personal favorite among Roqueforts is Carles, which he had me try … so, all right … not only am I bring home a large piece of Gabriel Coulet, but I am also bringing home some Carles as well.  It has been wrapped in paper and then sealed in plastic to prevent leakage and – is smell-age a word?  At any rate, Roquefort can be a bit fragrant, so hopefully all will be well.  He told me to pack it in my suitcase, so that it would remain cold in the cargo section during the flight.  Will do!

 

From there, decided to head back to the hotel.  However, because of construction on Vaugirard, I had no idea of where to even look for the 84 bus stop back.  So, as the metro station was right there, down I want to take the 10 back to Cluny.  Just three stops, and I popped out and got the 38 bus back up St. Michel to Luxembourg.  Back to the hotel about 11:45 am.

 

Pantheon dome from down the street!

Christmas trees went up today!

Top of the Eiffel Tower!

R still working away, but I was getting a bit peckish, and truthfully??  I wanted a Big Mac.  R said I shouldn’t include this part, but what’s a blog without a scale or two??  Back down Rue Soufflot to the McDonald’s and my Big Mac meal.  Have to admit that I REALLY wanted a hamburger when we were in Tunisia, but they really never appeared on any menu that we ever saw!  Enjoyed it very much!  From there, I decided, as my hands were still freezing, that I would walk down St. Michel to the Monoprix and see if I could find a pair of gloves…

 

Lunch!

I did!  Hopefully I’ll remember to have R take a picture!  They are navy blue, and very stylish!  More to the point, though, they keep my hands warm, which is really something!

The day has turned out much better than forecast – still cold; I don’t think it got up about 40 today, but at least the rain/snow mix that they were predicting until noon never really transpired, which is great!  It’s supposed to be relatively clear the rest of the day.

 

R has decided that he wants to go for Italian food tonight for dinner.  I’m not sure if it’s because that’s the closest restaurant to the hotel, or if he really wants Italian food, but that’s the plan at the moment!  So will close now and try to get a nap!  We’re leaving the hotel tomorrow morning at 6 am for CDG!

 

So, more later!

Much love,

m

xxx

 

Out to dinner at 7, to Terra Nera, just behind Les Grands Hommes.  Got a lovely table (with heaters above and next to us!!) as they were just opening.  Interesting Italian menu!  R ordered their Fusilli Terra Nera (which meant it had red sauce with basil, sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella).  I ordered their special Paccheri alla Siciliana – in other words, pasta with eggplant, basil and tomatoes.  It was FABULOUS!  The best pasta I have had since Sicilia and Pasta alla Norma!  Wow!  Lovely glasses of Chianti Classico Reserva and I also included a portion of their lemon tart for dessert.  Truly an excellent meal, and someplace to which we will definitely return!

 

R's fusilli

My pasta alla norma!

Excellent lemon tart

Now in, repacked and organized, and ready to head to the a/p tomorrow.  Shuttle coming at 6 am tomorrow, so up at 4:30 am!

 

More later!

Much love,

m

xxx