Tod, I'm really enjoying your trip report and, even though I'm anxious to hear about your motorhome trip throughout Great Britain, I am so glad you started out with the Paris portion (but I'm sure you knew that).

Am loving the photos too!

Gina

Just a wonderful trip report, and the photos are making me so "homesick" - thank you for taking so much trouble to post them. I'm even anxious to venture beyond Paris to England under your guidance.

Hi Gina!
Glad you are enjoying my report so far. Trouble is there is SO much to put into words and I try hard to keep to the what I think would be interesting reading!

Likeswords - thanks for the nice comments!

KEROUAC'S ETHNIC WALKING TOUR

We decided to try and do this walk in reverse so we did not have to cope with too many uphills around Montmartre which we wanted to include.

Exiting the metro at Abbesses we first took the customery walk around the Wallace Fountain to see if we could ascertain whether it be the real deal or a copy - I think this one is an original. Gina, you are also very interested in these lovely water fountains so please see what you come up with when you are there in October!

ST-JEAN l'EVANGELISTE` DE MONTMARTRE
I have been to Montmartre many times but never ventured inside St-Jean l'Evangeliste de Montmarte right opposite the Abbesses metro entrance on Place Des Abbesses, named after 43 Abbesses, the last of whom was Louise de Montmorency-Laval, guillotined in 1794 after being accused of plotting against the Republic. Seemed a ghastly thing to do to a 71-year-old lady who was deaf, blind, and very decrepit!

The interior of the church is in soft natural light streaming through the stained glass windows and the burning candles at various points. It is almost bare in it's simplicity but very unusual.
Completed in 1904, and combining Art Nouveau with Islamic architecture, it has earned the nick-name 'St-Jean-des-Briques' from it's red brick structure.

LITTLE ANGELS
Before continuing along Rue Yvonne-Le-Tac I haul my DH into the little Post Office on the corner where there is a very cleaver machine that recognises how much postage is needed on your postcard or letter, just by scanning the address as you lie it face down.
Please forgive me being excited over such a trivial invention but I'm from Africa you know!

Heading down the street I stop to go inside The Angel shop to see whats new. They have every conceivable little angel imaginable and then some! Madame is not there but her daughter is doing the morning shift. I leave without finding anything ( bought a CD of angelic music last time).

FABRIC HEAVEN IN PARIS
Making a bee-line for Marche` Saint-Pierre we find it virtually empty.
Not at all the bedlam on a Saturday afternoon as described in my guide book. We take some photos to show our son back home. He has been left in charge of the family business which is similar to Marche-St-Pierre.
One striking difference is that they are able to put rolls of fabric out on the sidewalk - if we did that here people would pick them up and just saunter off! Another spectacular array of fabric is in Rue Steinkerque.

It is a wonderful sunny day we top for a rest at the famous carousel on Place Saint-Pierre. It's said to be two centuries old but the horses looked much newer than the ones on the carousel in Jardin du Luxembourg. Those look absolutely ancient.
Alongside is Square Willette and I notice the 'dark forces' have been at work armed with their spray-cans of black paint clearly leaving a name but alas, no address!

MORE CHURCHES
We take the funiculaire to the top ( today there are no large men trying to put a 'bracelet' around your wrists thank goodness). We do another tour around inside the Sacre`-Coeur Basilica. One day I'll get to the top for the view!
I wonder if the ovoid dome is still the second highest point in Paris after the Eiffel Tower?
Walking around to rue Azais we continue with our 'church interiors tour' and go inside St-Pierre de Montmartre. It's hardly noticeable after the magical Sacre-Coeur.
Being one of the oldest churches in Paris and all thats left of the great Benedictine Abbey of Montmartre, founded in 1133 by Louis VI & his wife Adelaide of Savoy, who is buried here.
We locate the 4 marble columns from a Roman Temple and admire the Gothic-style stained glass windows - these are not ancient like the church, but were replaced after a stray bomb destroyed the original windows in WWII.
If you happen to be up in Montmartre on 1st November, the day of the dead in the Catholic calendar, you will have admittance into the tiny cemetery - the only day of the year this occurs.

THE LUNCH BELL RINGS!.
I just have to get a snack at Le Consulat! This old restaurant featured in so many paintings has had my attention for some time now.

Wandering down a favourite little alley to Le Consulat, namely rue Rustique, we find a sunny table and order omlettes. Only the French have got this simple dish down to a T! Surprisingly the bill, including two beers, is not over -the-top and adds up to 27.90euro.

Well nourished and rested we plan the next stage of the day.

DOWN THE HILL & FAR AWAY

Setting off down Rue Utrillo which is a long flight of steps down to Rue Paul Albert. There are some lovely cafes down here to consider for the future.
Following rue Muller down the hill we make our way to rue Myrha.

This is where we slow down the pace and start taking in the Ethnic atmosphere of crumbling old buildings waiting for demolition, as has been evident by large gaps of vacant land here and there.
Those last reminders of 'how it used to be' are described very aptly in Kerouac's Ethnic Walking Tour. We find No.44 and it IS undescribable! The items on display are piled up from top to bottom in the turquoise colour frame of the window.
We stop and gawk at No.42, Poulets Vivants - A man comes to the doorway and beckons us over. I leave DH to take a photo and I gingerly enter the door at the mans insistence. He is smiling and proud of his 'Live Chicken' business and I nod in approval. By now have stop breathing in, as the smell of chicken litter, fowls & fowl food is so strong you can cut it with a knife!
Oh what a relief to get out of there!

By now other men poke their heads out of doorways and one makes a comments as we pass but with a very unsmiling face - so I show him my South African flag (which is a luggage label attached to my handbag) and say "Afrique du Sud"!!
Aaah! Smiles break out all round and we wave a cheery goodbye as we walk on.

Reaching the end of Rue Myrha we turn into Stephenson but decide to go up rue St.Mathieu and take a look inside the church of St.Bernard de la Chapelle.
We are quite alone apart from one other visitor.
This church was brought into the spotlight in 1996 when it became a stronghold of resistance to the measures of expulsion taken by the government against African workers devoid of work permits and known as 'sans papiers'. They occupied the church & hunger striking insued.
Taken by surprise one morning they were dislodged by the police who stormed the church.

Photographs taken we move on glancing up rue de la Goutte D'Or but decide no hills today.
Just want to mention here, that in the Middle Ages, the City of Paris presented wine of La Goutte-D'Or to the King on his birthday - it was that good!
Finding a bus on Boulevard De La Chapelle we take a well earned ride to the nearest stop to Rue des Martyrs.

RUE DES MARTYRS
What a lively street with cafe`s and shops selling everything your heart desires.
I find a corner shop stocked with kitchen gadgets and I dive in.
Success! I found the exact potatoe peeler I tried to find in England with no luck. I buy 4 & some brightly coloured wine sealers.
Those peelers make a great little gift!

At the end of rue des Martyrs is the beautiful church of Notre-Dame-De-Lorette.
Spent a good half hour and took a well-earned a rest inside.

PARC MONCEAU

Taking the metro right outside the church we make for Parc Monceau to laze away the rest of the afternoon on a park bench.
This is my second visit to this lovely park which was originally much larger and even extended into the 17th arr., was basically a hunting-ground and belonged to the Farmer General Grimod de La Reyniere, the Lord of Monceau.
It was in 1778 that Louis-Philipe d'Orleans bought part of the territory and transformed it into a magical park called, La Folie de Chartres.
In the rotunda we see today - known as the Pavillon Philippe-Egalite`, he built himself a sitting-room in the dome, where he would come to enjoy the extensive view.

The evening draws on and I am itching to take DH to dinner at one of my favourite restaurant in the 11th - namely Bistro du Peintre.

ROTTEN LUCK

Yes, rotten indeed when we arrive at the corner of rue de Charonne & Ledru Rollin. The place is under renovation and there will be no dinner here tonight!
I think quickly for another Fodorite recommendation and we take
the metro to the very well mentioned Bistro du 7eme.
It's buzzing and we are offered a table outside but can see we will be in for a long night so decide to book and come back again in the futur.

So, it's home to Tin Tin and my DH couldn't be more pleased!
We have packing to do as we move out of Hotel Torcy in the morning amd head for our third and last hotel of the trip.

GOING OF TOWN

It's the last two days of our time in Paris. Upon checking out of Hotel Torcy we roll the cases just around the corner and into MacDonalds for a quick pastry & coffee.
This particular morning we have missed the early morning rush hour and find the delivery truck is disgorging the daily MacD's requirements.
The entire floor area downstairs is nothing but crates and more crates of buns etc.
At first we think breakfast service must be over but eventually get served and have the most delicious three pastries & coffee for 2.10 each which we take upstairs - Total bill 4.20 euros. Yes, I'm lovin' it!

We take the metro across town to Rue du Cardinal Lemoine. We knew there would be a slight uphill dragging of cases and in restrospect could have waited at the bottom and caught a bus up the hill which turns off into Rue Clovis almost on the doorstep of our next and last home for two nights, Hotel Des Grandes Ecoles, 75 rue Du Cardinal Lemoine in the 5th arr.

We are too early for the room but the gracious receptionist takes leave of our suitcases and places them near her large desk while we check in.
We are seated in two armchairs in front of her desk and feel as if we are about to be interviewed for a job!
She is the most fascinating woman.
Speaking in a fairly high but melodic voice which fluctuates with the raising and lowering of her eyebrows, we hand over the necessary details and pay the bill at the same time. Much eyebrow raising here before handing over the key to our gorgeous garden room.

We say 'Au revoir' to Madam and thank her profusely for looking after our stuff before heading down the driveway and back down to the metro.

Our plans for the day are to head out to the historic Les Amis De La Maison Fournaise.
Taking the RER A from Charles de Gaulle-Etoile metro station we arrive within 20 minutes at Rueil Malmaison station.
Now this is where maps not drawn to scale become a slight problem!
I took the sketch off the internet and followed the instructions accordingly.
We started towards the bridge but unsure whether we were heading in the correct direction stopped to ask a man coming towards us.
Unfortunately he had never heard of Maison Fournaise (probably because of our lousy pronunciation) so we carried on.

The weather was just perfect. Sunny & hot!
As we hit the bridge across the Seine, which is incredibly wide at this point, we spotted the restaurant on the river bank.
It's quite a walk - 35 minutes easily.

LIEU DE RECONTRE DE PEINTRES IMPRESSIONISTES

The setting is incredible.
The Seine is flowing like a long blue ribbon, so calm that the trees on the bank make a mirror image.
We arrive at the back of the restaurant and not knowing quite which way to go we make for the lawned area in front and soon discover that the entrance in on the otherside, but no matter, we are in super early time - just 1pm and there are dozens of tables to choose from.

I ask if we could be seated on the verandah and we get a table up against the wooden railing.
The view is gorgeous and we watch water craft arrive and dock on the opposite bank.

Starting with a Kir & DH a beer we peruse the lovely menu.
We decide to have the 'Menu de Jour' which I can't clearly remember but will identify on the photos. This is the only time we photographed the food!
Total bill - 71,55 euro which included wine.

Although it was a blazingly sunny day the restaurant had not opened the red & white striped awning over the terrace. A bit of a pity when it came to the photographs.
Well fed we took a stroll around downstairs in the courtyard which had another restaurant on the opposite side.
I called in at their little gift shop which sold cups & saucers, scarves etc., all to do with the impressionists.
I was pleased to find a tiny coffee cup which had part of a Renoir painting on it.

Back across the bridge to the station and Paris.

LUNCH MENU MAISON FOURNAISE

My photos of our lunch reminded me that we started with a small plate of little cheese puffs accompanied by spicy assorted nuts.
That went down very well with our aperitifs!
The set lunch menu with choices:
Starters were a local dry-cured ham and melon for DH - I had the avocado & prawn cocktail.
Mains were fish for me and lamb for DH.
The desserts were a three layered Chocolate mousse served in a wine
glass - me, and DH had some kind of strawberry cake beautifully decorated.

A PLEASANT AFTERNOON AROUND LES HALLES

Back in centre of Paris for the rest of the afternoon we took the metro to Chatelet.
This is an area I never seem to get to - except once many years ago.
Passing Fontaine des Innocents,
we walk along rue Berger and buy a gift for our architect friend who has never got past the hippy stage of his life - It's an outrageous pair of striped pants which he now wears to his Tennis Club!

I want to visit Tour St-Jacques so we retrace our steps.
Unfortunately the Tour is covered in scaffolding but we stay awhile in the gardens.

STE. CHAPELLE
Deciding it's much to early to head to the hotel, we make another attempt at getting into Ste-Chapelle so go off to Ile De Cite.
The line is quite long but decide to join it anyway. Our patience paid off and 30 min. later we were inside.

Isn't it a thrill when you know what to expect but your partner does not?! As we made our way up the twisty little stone staircase to the Upper Chapel, I turned around to see my DH's face when he laid eyes on all the spectacular stained glass!
Oh my, my, my.....! That's all he said - and it was enough.
We spent a good hour taking loads of photos, but another candelit recital was happening at 7.30pm and we had to relectantly leave around 6pm.

SUNSET AT THE EIFFEL TOWER

Because of the long daylight hours the tower only starts to sparkle on the hour quite late - about 11pm.
We went and walked around Place du Trocadero trying to settle on a restaurant for dinner that evening.
After a Carlsberg & a Landelin at Cafe de Trocadero - 5.50euros each,
we settled on Cafe Kleber.
The special dish of the day was Osso Buco , so I had that with a nice big glass of Cotes Du Rhone & Pates Bolognaise for DH.
A tasty well presented meal which came to 40.80euros.
The service from our waiter was excellent. 10/10 for cheerfulness and treating all the customers so well.

We move onto the wide open space of the terrace Palais de Chaillot and people watched until the tower lit up.
In the meantime the police were trying to round-up the 'trinket' sellers. They were gathering up their wares and dashing off in all directions. For one man the escape route didn't work out and a plain clothes policeman tackled him and put the cuffs on.
This scenario continued right across the bridge and around the pretty carousel. Is this another case of 'Sans Papiers'??

At last at 11pm whilst we were standing on the Champs du Mars we got our sparkling iron lady.
We left making for Ecole Militaire metro to get home before the trains stopped running.
We walked along Rue de Montessuy first and this is a definite place to come back to for dinner in the future! The restaurants look lovely.

Hopefully I will be able to post my final part of this report soon, together with the photos!

Great report. Can't get enough of it. I am really waiting to see the chicken store.

Thanks a lot Analogue - much appreciated!

PLANS FOR OUR LAST DAY

We did have some plans for doing an indepth walk around the Ile Saint-Louis, but got totally carried away in another direction.

Taking it easy this particular morning we started out around 10am.
Our room at Hotel des Grandes Ecoles, 75 Rue Cardinal Lemoine, was decorated in an intense floral wallpaper & unusual cotton lace bedcovers. A very nice lower floor room, leading directly onto the pretty garden.

WELCOMED BY ANGELIC VOICES

I was the first to leave our room in the morning, leaving DH to take a leisurely shower.
As I stepped out of the French doors a loud chorus of childrens voices burst into song, accompanied by ferocious playing of a piano!
Whats this?! A special kind of hotel 'good morning' to guests awakening to a glorious sunny morning?
No dear, just the school next door having singing practice. Oh well, I did feel special for that split second or two!

Sitting and waiting in the lovely setting with a number of other guest all enjoying breakfast I was able to enjoy the lovely singing interjected every now and then by a mans voice giving intructions.

Soon after, we set off into rue Cardinal Lemoine and up into Place de La Contrescarpe.
If you are interested in Ernest Hemingway you can see the propery at no.74 Cardinal Lemoine, where in 1922 he and his bride Hadley occupied a tiny flat on the 4th floor. This was only minutes away from no. 39 rue Descartes where he worked and where he claimed that the room was the very one in which Verlaine died.
At no.71 across the street from Hemingway's flat, lived James Joyce in a third floor flat while finishing Ulysses.

Place de la Contrescarpe is a delightful village square and pretty quiet when we passed through it - later that evening we were to find out quite differently!

A LITTLE CORNER OF IRELAND

Following rue Thouin, we came across another lovely green Wallace fountain recognisable by the four caryatids of Simplicity, Charity, Sobriety and Abundance, which support a dolphin-topped dome.
Of course much inspection was necessary to try and determine it's authenticity! Into rue de l'Estrapade we then turned down rue Clotilde which runs behind the great Pantheon, and lead to our first port 'o call, Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.
This church was built in a flamboyant style of architecture which was characteristic by the end 15th century. Some parts are in Gothic style & others date from the Renaissance, including the magnificent chancel screen and notibly the only one to have survived in Paris.
It also has a highly ornate 17th- century organ and most importantly the remains of Saint Genevieve.
At the time of our visit there was a small funeral being held and we felt uncomfortable taking photographs whilst the priest was saying mass for the departed so left without really seeing it properly.

We continued walking up rue des Irlandais, (the Irish part of our walk) - and into rue Lhommond (after Loch Lommond I guess), and into rue d'Ulm until we came to the junction of Guy Lussac where we stopped off for some tea as we had eaten no breakfast.
When I came back to our table from using their loo, my DH had been joined by a young chap from Austin Texas. He was so opologetic in invading our company but was desperate to have a conversation with someone - anyone - in English!
He was not getting on too well with French and felt positively homesick.
He went for a job but was thinking of packing it in.
Ggnga - I nearly gave him your address but you've already got a man in Paris!


OUR LUNCH DATE AT LE VIN SOBRE!

We had to love & leave him drowning his sorrows in another beer as we were headed for Val-de-Grace.
Up rue Saint-Jacques we made a lunch reservation at Le Vin Sobre, cnr. Rue Feuillantines, for 1pm.
Unfortunately when we arrived at the Val-de-Grace the gatekeeper let us in, only to be able to go across to him at a small window and be told the chapel was not on view that day.
Oh well, that means there has to be a next time!
Slowly walking back to the restaurant we still were ahead of time but it didn't matter - we were seated and had a cocktail.

The menu on the chalkboard looked excellent and we made up our minds to go for 2 plats du jour which was a thick slice of veal cooked in a delicious creamy sauce.
I really don't remember having a starter. The bill with wine & coffee- 50euros.
The food was gorgeous, the waiter and manageress very chatty and pleasant.
We were seated just inside the sliding door/window. At a table near us on the terrace a man was having the most enormous steak I have ever seen served anywhere! It took up the entire plate except for a slight show of white crockery here and there.
I highly recommend this lovely restaurant and had we known beforehand, would have dashed to their other branch at 35 Avenue Duquesne in the 7th on our bad luck evening with restaurants.

I will conclude this later with our lovely afternoon and last night in Paris...............

bookmark

At last...the conclusion of our wonderful 7 days in Paris!

JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG

After such a divine lunch at Le Vin Sobre we are ready to walk it off and make a start for Jardin du Luxembourg which we never tire of visiting.

Our route was thus:
We turn into rue Pierre Nicole and pass a very nice looking hotel, namely, Hotel Pierre Nicole at no.39, a two star on the doorstep of metro Port Royal. I dash inside to get a brochure. We will definitely be staying here in the future. Tarif: Single 85E, double 95E, a suite 110E & breakfast 7E.
They have 33 rooms.
[email protected]

The streets along here are most interesting and we come across a strange building that is made to look ancient as far back as Roman times. Well at least I thought it was fake!

We spot a cat tied to a railing on the balcony of it's home. It walks as far as the leash allows and hops back on a ledge to view the street below.
I start thinking about my cat Sebastienne, who has the run of our acre of garden and if he is enjoying all his kitty friends at the cattery. Well I hope so.

We get to Port Royal Metro station and continue down hill towards Jardin Marco Polo.

HEMINGWAY'S HAUNT
We pass the famous restaurant of La Closerie des Lilas on the corner of Blvd.Montparnasse & Avenue L'Observatoire.
Despite it's name, La Closerie has neverhad lilacs, not even when it was a stopping place for the stage coaches on their way to Fontainbleau. Instead, it had Plane
Trees shading the customers outdoors in 1853. The lilacs belonged to another building across the boulevard and thats where they borrowed the name!
Hemingway discovered La Closerie in 1924 when he came here to escape the noise of his dwelling above a sawmill & write his novel "The Sun Also Rises - No. 113 Notre-Dame-Des-Champs, but you won't find it today & the street numbers jump from 111 to 115.

PRINCE OF MOSKOVA
Outside the Closerie stands a statue of Marechal Ney, Prince of Moskova, one of France's greatest heroes during the Revolutionary Napoleonic Wars. He was shot by firing squad after being accused of high treason on the sight of Port Royal metro where the statue was originally placed.

STAMPEDING HORSES STIR UP THE WATER
The wonderful fountain named "The Four Corners Of The World" is everything a fountain should be!
Bravo Mr. Carpeaux!
Gallons of water squirt ever upwards causing a fine mist to blow in the wind. The horses are magnificent as they paw the air with their hooves.


Graffitti AGAIN!
A statue of a lone naked lady has attracted the graffitti demon and he has given her a good spray....here & there....! Wish they would catch these stupid people.

On the left, corner of Avenue De L'Observatoire & Rue Michelet is a stunning brick building in a Moorish design. According to my map it is the Universite` Paris V Rene Descartes.


JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG
We enter at the main gate but turn off into a path leading to the childrens playground and carousel.
Happy students are sitting in a circle around their Professor and a lively conversation is in progress.

We stop and sit on a bench to watch the ever intensity of a game of Boules. I'm fascinated by the way they pick up the iron balls with a magnet. Saves bending down I guess!

The beautiful and clean children's playground is a little way down opposite. The kids are having a fantastic time watched over by Mama or Papa.

FUN ON THE CAROUSEL
Taking a seat alongside the carousel we see a gentleman arrive to lift up the green tarpaulin covering the old wooden horses. In no time he has the show on the road.
He approaches each child who has picked their favourite horsey, puts a leather strap around their waists, hand them a stick and they're off!
Even in this day and age of TV games and most things electronic, these kids are having REAL fun trying to snag the hoops hanging up. There are no prizes, only the satisfaction of being the biggest hoop snagger!


Tea is on the cards so we make for the little tearoom near the Medici Fountain. The little Sparrows ( I think they are) are so tame and land on our table to nibble a few crumbs.

Leaving the gardens we take the metro to Bastille to see if we can find ggnga or G - and get her to come and have a last meal with us.
We find Passage du Chantier easy enough and wander past the furniture restorers and stand in front of her charming gate. There is a crowd of young girls chatting on a balcony inside and I have a look at the buttons on the wall to see if I can find a name. No luck - I wonder whether to attract the attention of the chatterboxes but I don't speak French and thats all I hear!
Oh well G, I tried your phone number with no luck so until next time - Au revoir!

BACK AT PLACE DE CONTRASCARPE
We take the metro to Place Monge and walk downhill instead of the drag up Cardinal Lemoine - good move! The place is jumping and the cafe`s and restaurants flowing out onto the sidewalks.
Nearly at the end of rue Thouin ( I think it was) we find a Chinese place and decide this is going to be perfect for our last meal in Paris. It has the weird name of Dag Phug which I should imagine means something terrific!

We are only the second couple in there but as we enjoy a delicious meal ( I get my Sweet 'n Sour pork!)the place starts to fill up.

I really like this area with it's lively nightlife and would love to stay here again.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
We pack the little bits and pieces we have bought for friends and family and hit the sack.
In the morning we make an easy slow start as our train from Paris Est is only at 1pm.
The breakfast in the sunny garden is delightful. A treat at 9 euros each.
We make good time by metro to the station and board the ICE 9555 to Frankfurt. Along the way we change trains and get on the ICE 516 direct to the airport.

As we were flying business class we take advantage of having a luxury shower before boarding our flight around 7pm.
It was a smooth trip and a perfect end to our 3 weeks in UK & Paris!

What a terrific report. I've really enjoyed following your explorations from neighborhood to neighborhood. You really have done it perfectly! Thanks for writing.

CW

Many thanks CW - I have given it my best shot.

Here are the photos:

http://tinyurl.com/3tfj28

I did forget to mention my enjoyment of your series of photos. The last group was great as were the others. I especially liked the carousel and the Eiffel Tower and the close-up of the horses with the fountain water in the air around them. It's as though they had come alive and were galloping through.

Paris is wonderful with it's major attractions but it is the details that make me want to return. For me, you have captured the seductive details wonderfully in your photos. Thanks again.

CW

The photographs are magnificent, tod, particularly because the subjects are often very original and not the same old tourist shots that so many people take. Believe me, I understand this after having lived for so long in Paris (which I continue to photograph regularly).

However, I have a major complaint: Not enough photos!

Thank you for the compliments everyone -
Kerouac: I did not want to bore the pants off my fellow Fodorites with too many photos, but you will understand why it took me three weeks to get this report together when I tell you between the two of us we took 4,000 photos!
What camera do you have?
DH has a Canon 400D and I have a Pentax Optio 430.
The horses in the fountain were taken with MY camera!

Beautiful photos, thanks. I really enjoyed your report.

More great pictures, Tod! Good job! Especially liked those of one of my favorite churches, St. Etienne du Mont with the beautiful chancel screen.

Now waiting for your report on the Great Britain portion of your trip. I'll be looking for it when I get back from Cape Cod (leaving Sunday).

Gina

Thanks again Gina - happy holiday in Cape Cod!
I will try my best to get cracking on that UK report.

Tod-
Great report. It was really interesting to read about all the places you walked around where few tourists visit.

I'll be staying at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in October. It sounds like you liked it. Any other comments?

Hi Kristina - Very good choice of hotel. For the ambience, cleanliness, and very attentive staff this hotel is certainly a very well kept secret!

One comment for those who have never stayed there before -
Although breakfast is served in the diningroom and terrace in the garden, you have to order it at the reception desk.
We sat outside thinking someone would come and take an order. When that failed I went into the dining area & stood around waiting for someone to take the order but when that too failed I ventured into the kitchen and was pointed towards the reception desk - At the time Madame was busy with people checking out so had to stand and wait my turn.
It is a real treat to have a gloriously crispy baguette under a shady umbrella, surrounded by flowers, shrubs & trees!
Don't lets forget the choir practice either!

I found that I had to ditch my hardly used shampoo, conditioner, hair-curlers etc. etc. because of the "liquids" position at airports.
The lady cleaning the room was really delighted to have it all, together with some cash!