Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - A Great Trip to London & Paris!

We had a great trip to London & Paris! Sorry it took me so long to get this written. I got lots of good information for the trip on Fodors, so I hope I can provide information for people getting ready to go there. It was a wonderful time! Except for a couple of instances (I?ll go into that below), we had beautiful weather. The food was great and the people extremely friendly.
I thoroughly enjoyed both cities, although I have to admit that Paris is my favorite. That said, I wish you could flag down a taxi in Paris like you can in London instead of having to go a taxi stand (and even if you find the blue taxi sign in Paris, it doesn?t necessarily mean a taxi will stop there). And I also found the buses in London easier to follow, despite their annoying habit of telling you that this is the end of the line and you have to get off. This happened to us twice on Bus #9, right in the middle of rush hour. Is this really the time to have your bus drivers go off duty?!!

My husband couldn?t get away right now due to business, so my mother & I went. She is great to travel with, never complains, is willing to do almost anything and has a great sense of humor. Although she?s in very good shape, the IS 80 years old, and I have some arthritis in my knees, so I planned the hotels to be close to bus routes (we wanted to avoid all those stairs and long corridors in the Tube and Metro) and also planned to take taxis when needed. Of course, in these two cities, there?s no getting around a good deal of walking (unless, of course, you can afford a full-time driver!). We moved VERY slowly but still saw a lot. Any prices I give for meals are for one person including a small tip, and the dinner prices include either a couple of glasses or half bottle of wine. If anyone wants more details on what we ate, let me know. I will give a lot of detail, since I know lots of people here like that, so if you don?t like that, just skip over this report!

We flew American Airlines from Buffalo to London. They serve dinner and breakfast, and the breakfast was much better than US Air?s last year (croissant, juice, raisins and yogurt). Those extra inches on American do make a difference.

Our introduction to London wasn?t what you would call ideal! I had reserved Ray Skinner?s service into London based on all the recommendations here. Although we landed only a few minutes late, we had a huge long line to get through Immigration (over 45 minutes). By the time we got our luggage and came out into the pickup area for drivers, there was nobody there with our name on a card. Since there were many people holding up cards and tons of people milling around, I walked all around 4 or 5 times looking for my name. One of the other drivers could see that I was looking for someone and suggested that I have him paged. So I waited in a line to have him paged. Then, of course, I had to wait around a bit to see if he showed up. Of course, he didn?t, because he had already waited quite a while and left!

Ray Skinner had been very thorough and had provided a number on his cell phone to call him if you arrived and he wasn?t there. However, as anyone knows, you can get foreign currency before you leave the US, but you can?t get any coins. So I again waited in line at the currency exchange to get change to make the call. Then I waited in line again to make the call. Did I mention that it was about 85 degrees F in the airport?! Anyway, I called Ray and he said he would be there in about 10 minutes, which he was. He said that he had waited 1 hour, 15 mins. (He says in his confirmation email that their driver will wait at least an hour), so we must have literally just missed him when we came out.

The moral of this story is that if you?re that late coming off your flight (in this case due to the wait at Immigration), call him right away! Don?t waste time looking around for him! It wouldn?t have been so bad if it hadn?t been so hot in the airport.

The good news is that when we got to our hotel around 10:30, we were able to check in right away. I know the advice here is to stay awake that first day and go to bed early, but that just doesn?t seem to work for me, and since we were able to check in so early, we slept for a few hours. We stayed at the Thistle Trafalgar Square (115GBP including VAT and breakfast). I felt that this was a great choice. You couldn?t be closer to all the bus stops in Trafalgar Square (and of course, if you want to take the Tube, it?s close as well), plus Trafalgar Square proved to be a great spot for all sorts of things going on! The room was small, which I expected, only the size of a night table between the two twin beds, but with a closet and dresser. The bathroom was decent size, and the shower was terrific! Lots of water as hot as you could possibly want it and plenty of water pressure. Sure felt good at the end of a day of sightseeing! The people at the desk were helpful if needed. The included buffet breakfast included eggs, sausage, cheese, yogurt, fruit, croissants, beans, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, hash brown potatoes, bacon, basically anything you want. You could also order toast if you wanted it.

I should note here that I checked the prices for this hotel and a couple of others on several of the discount websites as well as the Thistle website. I got this price by accident on Thistle?s own website (I was originally gong 9/23-27 and accidentally put in the dates 9/22-27). While the dates for 9/23-27 showed 149 GBP per night, the dates 9/22-27 showed 115 per night. I booked that, thinking that if we were going to pay more than we wanted for a London hotel, we might as well have an additional night! Just for the heck of it, I checked the price several more times before we left, and that 115 price never appeared again. Just shows that if you find a good deal, you should take it!

We bought the Great Britain Heritage Pass ahead of time ($41 including postage). Usually this is better if you?re traveling around the country, but I figured out we would save due to the places we intended to visit. I figured we saved over $30 by having it, so check your itinerary to see if it?s worthwhile for you.

I had planned an easy day for our first day (ha ha!), so we walked through Trafalgar Square (stopping to watch a guy training a falcon) over to Covent Garden. We got lucky and there was a performer in the Covent Garden Square, a guy on a unicycle who was juggling. It was sprinkling a little then, but I didn?t have an umbrella (I couldn?t find it when I was leaving home) and Mom had left hers back at the hotel. No big problem, it was only sprinkling, and my raincoat had a hood. We watched the juggler and checked out a couple of the shops and the antique booths (I found a couple of neat antique salt spoons, which I collect, really cheap), and started off toward Christopher Wray?s. I had posted a question about shopping for light fixtures in London & Paris before I left and got lots of replies. All of a sudden, it started pouring, a real downpour, plus extreme wind, there wasn?t even enough time to duck into a store. We were drenched! On the way to Christopher Wray?s, we did duck into a couple of doorways of stores, but by that time it didn?t really matter! Due to the extreme wind, even front of our slack were soaked! Oh well, we made it to Wray?s. They actually had a couple of things I liked, but they were the wrong size. The great thing about this? It was the only rain we were to see for the entire week. On to dinner!

We went to Belgo Centraal for dinner. Great mussels and terrific frites. Mom?s not into mussels, so she had the chicken with mushroom cream sauce, which she said was very good. Price for one w/wine was 24.75 GBP.

The next morning, we were off to the Tower of London on the bus. I have to say right here that we are NOT morning people! I had read many times that you need to get to the Tower right when it opens. I realized that wasn?t going to happen, so as usual, I didn?t worry about it! I had also read that when you got there, you should go directly to the Crowned Jewels and then come back for the Yeoman Warder?s tour. OK, we didn?t get up early enough to be there when they opened, we got there around 10:30 or so. I was very glad that I didn?t get up early, because when we arrived, there was hardly anyone there! We had maybe 20 people in our tour. I should point out that if saving steps is important, as it was with us, that the Crowned Jewels are right next to the end of the Yeoman Warder?s Tour, and that Tour starts right inside the entrance, so if you go to see the Crowned Jewels first, you are adding a good distance to your route, having to go way in to see the Crowned Jewels, then way back out to the entrance to the do the Yeoman Warder?s Tour. In any event, there were maybe less than 100 people in the entire Tower when we were there (and I mean in the entire place), so going to see the Jewels first was not an issue. We were the only two people on the moving walkway when we saw them. Of course, the tour was great, Mom was saying that she didn?t realize that they had beheaded so many people!

Next we went over to the Tower Bridge and did the Tower Bridge Experience, which was very interesting. It gives lot of history of the Bridge (I?m always interested in the history) and you get great views of the Thames from both sides as you walk along both lengths of the high walkways.

When we came off the bridge, we caught a taxi (I completely forgot about getting a picture of David Blaine - the guy hanging in the cube) and went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese for lunch. They were mostly booked, but we could get a sandwich in the back section, which is all we really wanted, 3.50 GBP.

Next we caught the bus back to St. Paul?s. There is a lot of scaffolding going on there, so it?s a little difficult to figure out where to enter, but of course it?s great when you get in there! My mother?s age and my knees didn?t make us even consider climbing up in the dome, but there was plenty to see anyway.

We took a bus back to Trafalgar Square and made our way back to our hotel to put our feet up for a while and take a short nap before going on the London Eye. This was my major goof with the bus. We got off where I thought we should, but it didn?t look right, so we got back on the next bus. After a few more stops, I realized that we had gone way too far, so we got off. Of course, the bus back isn?t necessarily right across the street! I asked a young guy if he knew where we could get the bus we needed, and he pointed down a short way around a curve. We went down to the curve and couldn?t see any bus stops close by. OK, I know when to cut my losses! I flagged down a taxi and he took us right to the London Eye. For some reason, I thought it went until 9:00, but as we walked up, the guy told us that if we wanted tickets, we better hurry in, as they were about to close (it was about a minute before 8:00). So we got the last tickets sold that night and went out to get in our cubicle, the last one to go for the night. These hold 25 people each, but there were only 5 of us in it. We ended up having a fabulous ride! With so few people, we could walk all around and get the views from every angle, and of course by now it was dark and the lights were on all over the city. I highly recommend going up at night. Big Ben and Parliament alone are wonderful to see at night with all the lights.

I had planned to go to the People?s Palace at the Royal Festival Hall, very nearby, for dinner, but I hadn?t bothered to make a reservation. When we got there, they were closing early due to a group having a wine tasting party that had the whole place booked. This was to be a pattern for us in London! We decided to go back and eat closer to the hotel and chose Brown?s on St. Martin?s Lane. It was after 9:00 by now and they were crowded, but we got a table. Great dinner, wonderful Shrimp Risotto, 21.33 GBP.

On Wed, we took the train to Hampton Court Palace. The best part here was definitely Henry VIII?s apartments, great ceilings, especially in the chapel. For anyone interested in needlework, at the back right as you go out to the grounds, there is a Royal School of Needlework shop with some nice kits and threads. Good sandwiches at the café there, 3.50 GBP. We were back at the hotel again in time to put our feet up for a while.

That evening we wanted something fairly quick for dinner, as we had tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, so we crossed Trafalgar Square (where it looked as though something neat was being set up) to the Sherlock Holmes Pub. The upstairs was completely booked by a group, but if you go there, go up anyway and see how they?ve recreated Holmes? study. Had good (not great) fish & chips, 10.00 GBP with wine. We had to go here, my maiden name is Holmes.

We went back over to Trafalgar Square to catch a bus to the Tower. Fortunately, we had some extra time, as there was some wonderful performance art going on. There were half a dozen people in huge white balloon costumes (think Pillsbury Doughboy without the hat!) dancing all around the square and what looked like a small hot air balloon in the center. When they got back to the ?balloon,? it spread out and floated up. It was so cool! The costumes must have been about 10-12 feet high, as the people?s faces were at chest level. I love coming across unexpected things like this.

On to the Ceremony of the Keys. I enjoyed this, although it might have been a bit more impressive if he hadn?t told you exactly what was going to happen. I think they should give the history part of it, but then let you experience the ceremony as it happens. One note, they say on their website that you should allow two months to write for the tickets. I had mine ten days from the day I mailed the request.

Thurs, we took the bus to the Victoria & Albert Museum. We can?t walk forever, so fortunately the things I wanted to see were close together. Checked out the Dress Gallery, the Raphael cartoons and the Musical Instruments. I almost didn?t bother with the music room and was very glad we included it. If you?re interested in music and instruments, don?t miss it! After the V&A, I wanted to go to the Rooftop Garden on Derry St (I think Ben Haines wrote about this). Well, you guessed it, it was completely booked for a business meeting for the entire day. Oh well, if we hadn?t gone there, we probably would have missed the Lush on Kensington High Street when you come out of Derry (there was also one in Covent Garden). We were also very close to Kensington Church Street, one of those recommended for lighting fixtures. I found a great one for my foyer. I think the store was Anne?s Lighting, and she had a second store just down the side street. Since it was going to cost around $225 to ship it home, I decided I could manage it myself. Had lunch at nearby Café Rouge, good salads, 6.60 GBP.

We went on to Kensington Palace, mainly to see the Ceremonial Dress Collection, the Queen?s Hats, and Di?s dresses. Enjoyed this very much. You leave the Palace grounds via a different route and come out by the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens, so we just sat and watched the people and swans for about an hour. There was a guy on roller blades who lined up around 15 cups, each about 6? apart, then went unbelievably fast in and out of the cups without hitting any. Wonder how long he?s been practicing that! The bus on the way back was the one that stopped and everyone had to get off, as it was the end of the line. We waited and got on the next one, then after a couple of stops, the same thing happened again. I thought, OK, enough of this, and flagged down a taxi!

After a rest back at the hotel, we walked over to Covent Gardens to look for somewhere to have dinner. Ended up at Pasta Brown?s on Bedford Street. Delicious dinner, 19.00 GBP.

For Friday, we had timed tickets for Buckingham Palace. This was my mother?s favorite place of the trip. It does have incredible architecture and décor, plus you get history as well. We also had timed tickets for the Queen?s Gallery, and I thought I had left enough time between the two. What I didn?t realize, is that you leave Buckingham Palace through the rear gardens, about a ?-mile walk, and come out a ways down the road from where you enter the Gallery. We should have hopped in a cab, but I didn?t realize how far back it was to get there, so we didn?t get there in time. We weren?t too disappointed, as we really wanted to go to the Royal Mews, had to see that gold coach! Gorgeous!

After that, we walked over to have lunch at Albert Pub on the way to Westminster Abbey. Once again, the upstairs part was booked, although this time the whole group was leaving as we got there. The waitress said they wouldn?t be able to seat anyone for an hour, so I begged her to please just set up one table! She took pity on us (maybe it pays to have senior citizen along!) and had a table set up for us in about ten minutes. This was our most expensive lunch, the carvery was 19 GBP for two courses.

We finished the afternoon with Westminster Abbey. Of course, what can you say? It?s an incredible place. As in so many of these types of places, you wonder how in the world they did those soaring ceilings, considering when they were built. My son is an architecture student in college, so I picked up a book for him about church architecture in England. Back to the hotel for a rest. This was our longest day! We had tickets for Mamma Mia, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I don?t understand why some people say there is no plot! Of course, I?m a sucker for a good romance any time!

Since we had such a late and big lunch, we waited until after the theatre to eat dinner. Right around the theatre, most places were closed or just closing, so I got my mother to try an Indian place, which she didn?t really want to do. I don?t have the name right now but have the card somewhere if somebody really wants to know, it was on Old Compton Road. Very good dinner, 20.80 GBP.

We were pooped, so we slept in Saturday morning, even later than usual, and started out for Harrod?s. In Trafalgar Square, there was a big demonstration starting for the Socialist Party (down with Blair & Bush, get out of Iran, etc.) At Harrod?s, got some nice cheese and biscuits to eat the train the next day and actually ended up having some for breakfast a couple of mornings in Paris. Harrod?s is, of course, very expensive. You sure won?t find any bargains there! On our way back to the hotel, we had to get off the bus again, end of the line. I wasn?t going to mess around with that again and hailed a taxi. The demonstration was in full swing, with people marching and the street blocked off that we needed to cross to get back to the hotel. I asked a police officer (a zillion of them around) how to get across, and she just lifted the barrier and said to go right across. Had some nachos at the hotel for a late lunch that were great, 3.25 GBP.

For dinner, we decided to go back to Brown?s, even had the same dish. We decided to only have one course to leave room for dessert, 23.00 GBP. The next morning, we took the Eurostar to Paris. The taxi driver on the way to Waterloo Station was feeling very sorry for us, that in Paris we would have to deal with the French! He was a real French basher. When I told him we had been there a year ago and found everyone very friendly, he said that was unusual. Then, I couldn?t believe it, he said, ?Well, they do insist on speaking French, don?t they, they think it?s an important language, and it isn?t really, is it?? I didn?t figure it was even worth getting into a discussion with him! Fortunately, by this time, we were almost at the station. Lo and behold, the Eurostar has been upgraded and now takes only 2 hours 35 mins. to get to Paris instead of 3 hours, and we took it on the very first day of the shorter time. Great way to travel. And then, before you know it, ahhh, you?re in Paris! Except for one morning, we had gorgeous weather, the last day it was actually too hot.

I had chosen the Hotel Parc St. Severin, rue de Parcheminerie in the 5th, again for its location near bus stops. I would definitely stay here again, nice room, nice bathroom, friendly people at the desk, great location. The breakfast, not included is 10E, I didn?t think it was worth it. We only had breakfast there the last morning. I also very much enjoyed this area, plenty of little restaurants around the corner on rue de la Harpe and rue St. Severin, it?s also right next to the church itself, very close to Place St. Michel. I bought a small painting at a gallery on rue de la Harpe. I had been to the Louvre and D?Orsay a year ago. I realize you can go back many times to these, but my mother wasn?t all that anxious to go there, so I chose some smaller museums for this trip.

We headed over to the Marais, starting with Hotel de Ville. I wanted to go to BHV for doorknobs for my kitchen cupboards, but it was closed, even though last year I was there on a Sunday. It was late afternoon, so we didn?t really have time for any museums, just enjoyed a walk down rue des Francs Bourgeois (I wanted to go to L?Occitane), did a little shopping, ending up at Place des Vosges. We enjoyed relaxing in the park and watching the people, lots of French families and boys playing soccer (just like last year when we were there). We were laughing at one little girl, maybe around 18 mos. old, who was bound and determined to get into the fountain. Her father would let her put her hand in the water, then she would start climbing in and he?d have to haul her out, several times. Walked back over to Ile St. Louis for dinner at Auberge de la Reine Blanche, rue St. Louis en I?lle. Rather than go back to the hotel and then out again, I had planned to eat earlier than usual tonight, and before 7:30 they had a 3-course fixed price for 17E. Delicious!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Shakespeare & Co. I love a good bookstore and can never leave one without buying something, so I picked things that I thought wouldn?t be so easy to get in the US (OK, I know that with the internet you can get just about anything, but that?s not as much fun!). They are open until midnight.

Monday morning we went back over to BHV so I could look for my doorknobs. There was a sign that they would be open on Sunday beginning Oct 5, so we had just missed it being open on Sunday. It was worth the trip, I found what I wanted. Then we went to Notre Dame. Of course, we weren?t climbing the towers, so that really doesn?t take all that long. On to Ste. Chappelle to see those gorgeous windows. Came back over the river and had lunch at Café St. Severin, onion soup, 7.50E, then over to St. Germain for some shopping on rue Jacob. I wanted to hit Laduree for macaroons (mmmmm!), Le Maison Ivre for pottery and l?Huilerie Artisanal J. Leblanc et Fils for mustards, olive oil soap and truffle oil (no credit cards at this last one). Can you tell I was at these three last year? I had actually already bought a pottery cruet for olive oil in the St. Paul area of the Marais, so I just window-shopped at Le Maison Ivre, but they have a terrific selection. Along the way I went in a Pharmacie to find Rogers & Gallet orange-cinnamon shower cream, I love this stuff, smells so good.

Back to the hotel to put our feet up for a while. We had reservations at Chez Maitre Paul and walked over there for dinner. Delicious as usual, 35E.

On Tuesday, we got on the bus to the 9th. Stopped in the Opera Garnier, but once again the auditorium was closed due to rehearsals. From something I read afterwards, we probably should have taken the tour anyway, but we didn?t. Did a little shopping at Bouchard?s, Galeries Lafayette & Au Printemps. If you?re interested in fabric, Bouchard?s had lots of tempting things, but not exactly what I was looking for, and after moving this summer after 28 years and having to get rid of so much, I am totally reformed and don?t buy fabric unless I know what I?m going to use it for (trust me, this is a huge change!).

Next stop was the Musee Jacquemart Andre. We took the bus a little too far (I realized afterwards that it was my fault, I didn?t read the stop correctly), but what the heck, we got to see the Arc de Triomphe. In Paris, it?s never a loss if you end up somewhere other than where you planned! We had a nice lunch in the museum?s café, great salads, 16E including Badoit. This place is amazing. It?s incredible to think that this whole place was the private collection of one couple who traveled extensively, always adding to their collection. If you?ve been thinking about going there and haven?t made it, definitely go on your next trip to Paris.

As usual, we had a rest back at the hotel before dinner and then went just around the corner to Demi Lune. I?m pretty sure Patrick recommended this place, so thanks for that (actually, I think we used a number of his recommendations, both in London & Paris)! I think their 3-course fixed price was 15E. At any rate, my meal was 32E including a Kir Royal and half bottle of wine. Dinner was excellent.

Wednesday morning it was raining pretty hard. I went out on my own to buy a small suitcase that I could check on the way home, mainly due to the lighting fixture and bath products that I bought. I had been fighting a bit of a sore throat, and when I got back, I told Mom I just wanted to lie back down for a little bit. Of course, I went right to sleep for an hour! I did feel better after that, though, so we set off to Montmartre. It had stopped raining by that time and didn?t rain again, that day or any other. As I had realized last year, this is the one time it?s worth it to deal with some stairs to take the Metro, so much quicker for that longer distance. I love all the fabric stores on rue de Steinkerque and the side streets off that, and I actually was looking for a couple of specific things. Found some gorgeous fabric for curtains for our new bedroom, as well as some for the kitchen. I love buying home dec things on vacation, then every time you look at those things, you remember the trip.

We took the funicular up and went first to Place du Tertre. I like to look at the art, and of course I found something I loved, but it was out of my budget. Not the usual Paris scenes, it was a wonderful picture of an old man in several poses. I tried to talk my mother into having her portrait done, but she really didn?t want to. We had lunch there at Au Clavion des Chasseurs. Believe it or not, when I saw the hot dog on the menu, it just sounded so good. OK, I know, in Paris you?re not supposed to be eating hot dogs, but that?s what I wanted, so that?s what I ordered! It was the longest hot dog I?ve ever seen (longer than the foot-long ones), and of course a French baguette can make anything better! Once I got eating it, I realized it was two hot dogs in one long baguette. Even hot dogs taste good in Paris?
7E for lunch.

We went on down to Sacre Coeur. I love this place. I know Notre Dame is eons older and I?m always interested in the history, but I just think that the dome in Sacre Coeur is so gorgeous! The colors and gold are so beautiful. Great mosaics along each side as well. It was still very foggy and hazy after the earlier rain, so we didn?t get the spectacular view of the city from up there, but still a great day.

Back to the hotel to put our feet up! We had reservations for La Fermette Marbeuf that night. My husband and I went there last year, and their Grand Marnier soufflé was to die for, in fact, I?ve recommended it several times to Fodorites who were asking about great deserts. Much to my chagrin, they don?t have it on the menu anymore! There?s a Grand Marnier crepe (I think) and a soufflé with candied fruits. OK, I do not like candied fruits at all! I asked the waiter about the GM souffle, and he said no, they didn?t have it anymore. But, I said, I?ve been waiting a whole year to have another one! He smiled and sympathized with me, but of course couldn?t do anything about the menu. Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed. However, the meal made up for it, mostly with the fabulous appetizer of mussels with spinach and curry sauce. Sooo good! 53E for dinner. After dinner, we walked up to the Champs Elysees to see the Arc de Triomphe all lit up, but for some reason, the lights weren?t on that night.

Thursday?can it really be our last day? It?s a gorgeous day, had to be near 80 degrees F later in the afternoon. We went to Café Danton, rue St. Germain at the corner of Carrefours d?Odeon for a late breakfast/brunch. Great omelettes, 7E. Then we?re off on the bus to Musee Rodin. I enjoyed this, and there were still a lot of roses in bloom in the garden. Had to look a bit, but found the spot where you can see the dome of Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower, and the Thinker all at once. I might have read about this in Rick Steves. Then we went to Les Invalides. Beautiful gardens. For some reason, I was underwhelmed with Napoleon?s Tomb, guess I though it would be more ornate or something. Of course, I guess it?s impressive when you realize how many layers there are before you would get to his body! However, the room itself is spectacular, the dome and the altar. As in most places, pictures aren?t allowed, but at least a dozen people were taking pictures and the three guards standing right there didn?t try to stop them. Definitely go there, if only to see the room.

We headed over towards the Eiffel Tower, me thinking that it would be nice to approach it from the end of the Champs de Mars for a great view. This was a little farther than I realized, we should have taken the bus, plus part of it was blocked off so we had to walk way around. By this time, it was actually too hot! I have to thank Disney, because halfway through the Champs de Mars, I was very glad to see the Mickey Mouse Pavilion! We gratefully stopped for ice cream and water. When we finally got near the Tower, it looked like a mob of people. I thought, oh no, we would have to wait forever to go up. As we got closer, though, it turned out that most of them were milling around the area and not in line. Didn?t wait long to get in, but at the second level where you change elevators, it was a long wait there, but we finally made it to the top. It was really hot! We definitely wanted a taxi back to the hotel.

We had planned to go further afield for dinner but were just too tired and sore to do so, so we ate at Alexandre, right next to our hotel (in fact, it almost looks like it?s part of the hotel). 15E fixed price with a choice of three fondues--steak, cheese or steak cooked on stone, all at your table. It came with a great salad and delicious roasted potatoes. The steak wasn?t the best I?ve ever had, but it was good and it?s fun to cook it in the fondue at your table. And the half bottle of house wine was only 5E. They serve you very quickly, as everything is ready to go, so it?s a good place to go if you don?t have a lot of time for dinner.

After dinner, we went across the street to the Abbey Bookstore, which I had been resisting all week. My son and I have a joke that I can?t walk by a bookstore without being sucked right in, and I finally succumbed! Like Shakespeare & Co., it?s mostly English books. It?s a very narrow store and has so many books stacked in addition to the shelves along the walls that you can barely fit through to get to the back section, but of course I had to check it out! There?s more downstairs as well, although I didn?t go down there. Naturally, I couldn?t resist a few books?

We set off to try and find some dessert. Along rue de la Harpe, three or four places turned us down, they would only take you if you wanted dinner, even though it was after 10:00 pm. At one place, Santorini, the guy was always out front. He had been trying to lure us in to his restaurant for dinner all week as we passed it going elsewhere. So there he was, out there as usual. When I told him we only wanted dessert, he said, of course, no problem! So he brought us a large dessert menu. We wanted to order the coffee/chocolate/vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, although I had misread the menu, it was supposed to be either coffee or chocolate, not both. When I said I wanted both, he again said, no problem! I told him I would be back in Paris some time and would come for dinner and that I?d tell others about him, so that?s what I?m doing! It was a beautiful night, even that late still warm enough that you didn?t need a jacket, so there we were, sitting outside at his restaurant in the balmy evening, eating delicious ice cream. What more could you want for your last night in Paris!

Hope you?ve enjoyed this. I?d be happy to answer any questions.