Fourth, and last full, day in Paris, April 20, 2025

   Today was a bit of a slower day. Mark and Barbara walked up to Notre Dame and listened to the peal of the bells and watched a huge line of people trying to get in. 

   We all went out after our "normal" breakfast of croissants and baguette and walked on the left bank toward St. Michel's and then split up. Sebastian wanted to go off on his own to shop.

Mark and Barbara toured the Cluny Museum which we visited last time and like very much. 

    Then we walked to a Monoprix and got a few more things for a picnic. We all met up back at 19 Rue de Deux Ponts where we are staying. Sebastian had bought himself a sweatshirt while he was out.

     We walked across to the left bank by the Tournelle Bridge and had a nice lunch of ham and cheese baguette, chips, Orangina and a few Hobnobs. Sebastian had fun feeding the pigeons, and a few grackles, but fed the pigeons by hand.

   

Again, we failed to go to the Mozart Requiem - this time because we had not read the fine print. It would have cost 75 Euros, a bit steep, so we walked to a park and thought about the rest of the day and where we'd go for dinner.

First Full Day in Paris, April 17, 2025

  We had a bit of a slow start today. Mark and Barbara went out for a morning walk. We went across the bridge to the Right Bank and bought Navigo cards for the public transport. It was a bit confusing as they do not have a similar top-up system as in London. We have to use the 1 ride left on our two cards before they can be topped up. And, we bought one for Sebastian with 10 tickets. We have no idea if that will be enough to get to the airport, but will worry about that when the time comes. We continued our about Ile St. Louis and got croissants and a baguette at the local patisserie. So good. We  got coffee there partly so we could get some bigger coffee cups as the cups in the flat are very small.

    Showering is interesting in the bathroom here. You have to pull a curtain around so that you do not soak the toilet and toilet paper. (It did get wet - no names mentioned!) The room is so small (and wet), so there is no place to hang a towel, so they are scattered throughout the flat.

     Barbara figured out the washing machine which is far better than the one we had in London and did a wash which is hanging in our bedroom. 

     Mark made sandwiches with camembert and cheese in the baguette for taking on our boat tour of Paris which was at Pont Neuf, at the end of the Ile de la Cite. The boat tour, which took an hour, started off quite sunny and warm, but mid-way

through, the clouds and wind appeared and we were all shivering by the end. (Luckily, we all had layers, but were still shivering.)

     But, it was a nice tour which included the major river sites - Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, original hospital, the Louvre, the prison where Marie Antoinette lived her last two months of life, Place de la Concorde, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower.

       We walked back to our flat. Sebastian did some souvenir shopping for Christian and Andrew. Back at the flat, we had some nice warm coffee.

   

   After a suitable break, we strolled down the block to the St. Regis, a restaurant where we have eaten 4-5 times before - with Becky Cavanaugh, by ourselves and with Mike and Nancy

. All three of us had duck confit with delicious small roasted potatoes. Although we rarely order dessert, we split an absolutely delicious, and very generous, two creme brulees. Two first for Sebastian: duck and creme brulee.

   

Third Full Day in Paris, April 19, 2025

   Today, Mark and Barbara took their "usual" walk on the island and got baguettes and croissants at the nearby bakery.

    Later, we all took the Metro, Line 4, all the way to the end to the big "flea market" - Marche aux Puces de Paris Saint Ouen.

It has thousands of stalls in several grand marche buildings. But, it was quite upscale with lots of antiques and furniture. But - very interesting to walk around. We thought we might find some vintage clothes and bargains, and in that way, it was a bit disappointing and we did not find anything tempting to buy.

   

On our way back to the subway, we ate at (horrors) a McDonalds!

   Then, we came back to the flat and Mark and Barbara took a nice long walk to the Marais and into a neighborhood - St. Paul's where we've never explored. We had hoped to attend Mozart's Requiem at a church in our neighborhood, but....it is tomorrow. Sigh.

     Then, we all walked up to the Rue Saint Antoine and ate across from the Sully Hotel and Garden.

After we all had our second meal of duck confit, we walked across to the mansion and into the small garden. Built in 1625 as a private mansion with a huge courtyard, it has been the headquarters of the Center of National Monuments since 1967. We walked just over 7 miles.

    And, before we got home, we got some world-famous Berthillon ice cream. (salted caramel)

Second Full Day in Paris, April 18, 2025

 Today we went to the Musee D'Orsay. We attempted to go by bus, but thought that road works had disrupted it, so we walked the St. Michel and got on the Metro for just one stop. Luckily we had tickets, so our line was not too long to enter. Once there, we agreed upon a meeting time and place and mostly went our separate ways. The fifth floor with the Impressionists and post-Impressionists was quite crowded, but the other floors were manageable.

  Then we walked across the Seine and walked through the Tuileries and up the Rue de Rivoli. We did not find a place to eat, so Sebastian navigated us to a bus stop near the Louvre and we took the bus back to the Ile St. Louis.

From there we walked to the Left Bank to find a restaurant Mark picked out, but it closed minutes before we got there. So, we ended up on the Rue St Germain at a small Chinese restaurant where we all had a good meal and got to take a much needed rest as we all walked our 10,000 steps today.

   

London to Paris, April 16, 2025

  

 Today we packed & cleaned up the flat and took the Tube to St. Pancras where we got some things to eat on the Eurostar which left around 11:30. It was very crowded, especially in the waiting area. The trip took under 3 hours and was uneventful.

   We took a taxi from the Gare du Nord to 19 Rue de Deux Ponts on the Ile de la Cite. We were met by the owner who works in the shop below. (owns it?)

The flat is in a building under renovation and we are on the second floor. It is disappointing as it was expensive. The layout is funky. Sebastian is down a short flight of stairs in a bunk bed in a long narrow room. Our bedroom is fine. The kitchen is not well equipped, but we don't plan to do more than have snacks and breakfast here.

 

  We took a walk to the Ile de la Cite and looked at Notre Dame which is closed to visitors due to it being Holy Week.

The crowds were massive, so we took a few photos and then went into the medieval streets of the Latin Quarter where we ate at a Chinese restaurant and all had noodle soup bowls and Sebastian had bubble tea. 

      From there we walked on the Left Bank back to the Ile St. Louis and shopped at a small Carrefour for a few things to eat and also located a patisserie for the morning croissants and baguette.

Last Full Day, London, April 15, 2025

 Today was definitely a challenge in a few days.

 First, Barbara found, to everyone's dismay, that we missed the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower last night, thinking it was tonight. Very, very disappointing and not a great way to start the day. She called and made her case, but....to no avail.

   We headed to the Tube, but had to top up our Oyster cards. Barbara got her credit card stuck in the wrong slot. Sigh. We then had to wait for a man to go behind the machines and unstick it. Luckily, it only took about 10 extra minutes. But...still. What more could go wrong in the day?

     The next thing was a rather lengthy delay in the Tube because of "a trespasser" on the tracks. It was about a half an hour delay, although the announcer at one point said it would be "five minutes." After about ten minutes, it was announced for about "three minutes." At any rate, we go on our way and changed lines to get to Tottenham Court Road where we walked to the British Museum.

      The next was the LONG line to get in which went to the end of the block and then around in the Museum yard. We thought it would take an hour, but it ended up being only about 25 minutes. Whew.

     

   We split up in the Museum as Sebastian clearly wanted to go alone and we met up after about an hour and a half. It was crowded, but it's a big place, so mostly manageable.

           We got food from two food trucks on the Museum grounds outside. Mark waited a long time for a hot dog at a truck where the two guys were not working in synch and people were getting agitated, including Mark who, at one point, asked for his money back. Anyhow - he got his hot dog and Barbara and Sebastian had soft ice cream

     

      We took the tube back to Tower Hill and went into the All Hallows at the Tower church, the oldest church in the city of London. It dated back to the 600s and changed denominations 4x between Catholic and Church of England. It

was a bit hit with us all with nooks and crannies in the Crypt, some of which were not discovered until hundreds of years later. It escaped the Great Fire of ...... and Samuel Pepys watched the fire from its tower. Sebastian lit a candle and was moved by the experience and the atmosphere of this beautiful old church.

        It was bombed in World War II and also was firebombed, so sustained a lot of damage. The repairs did help to the discovery of some of the hidden bits.

         It had an American connection with the family of William Penn. Also, John Quincy Adams, who married an English woman, was married in this church.

     

    From there,  we went to a Barbecue Restaurant across from the church and then walked home in a light rain.

          The day definitely improved as it went along.