Schnauzer reporting live from Paris May09
 

I have finally arrived in Paris this afternoon. We flew Japan Airlines and had to spend the night in Tokyo, which was actually quite good. We never usually break the journey but I think I like it. I flew frequent flyers and my husband an ordinary ticket. Shame they didn't have any FF for business class out of Tokyo to Paris and I had to go first!!!! Think I like that as well!!

We had Inter Shuttle pick us up. They were waiting so that worked really well.

The apartment is in the 9th district, last time we stayed in the 7th so we now have a new area to get used to.

This afternoon we mooched around and bought some very basic essentials. It is a public holiday so a lot of places are shut. It is quite warm and very pleasant weather wise today. The sun is shining and I was quite warm in jeans and a little jacket over a long sleeve top. May this lovely weather continue.

We had a light supper at about 8.30 in the rue de Martyrs, croque madame for me and croque monsieur for monsieur. Back to the apartment as the jet lag is kicking in. Mind you I had a great 4 hour sleep on the plane which was good for a daylight flight.

I will write more when I have something to report and the jet lag fades.
Schnauzer

Welcome to the city. Paris will be much more active starting May 2nd. I believe that you may discover that the 8th arrondissement has a number of advantages. (Very few arrondissements do not.)

schnauzer, please don't feel you must wait until you have "something" to report before you post about your time in Paris. It's interesting to see how we each spend our days and nights in a city that has so many choices ;;)

My husband and I will be meeting you at the GTG on the 23rd, I believe. We arrive on May 5 but immediately take the TGV to the Alsace Lorraine and Champagne regions before returning to Paris. I hope you have a wonderful trip. I look forward to your reports and meeting you at Le Perraudin. Deborah

I meant to type 9th arrondissement instead of 8th....

Day two in Paris: Having spent a pretty awful night, it is hard trying to go to sleep when your body is saying "time to wake up". Anyway, had a light breakfast in the apartment and then we wandered back to rue des Martyrs to buy some fresh provisions. We chose some lovely Brie de Meaux cheese, some Comte cheese, slices of jambon aux herbes and some rabbit terrine with mustard. Off to the greengrocers for salad stuff and a large box of strawberries, yum.

Had a lovely lunch with bread and the meats and cheeses back in the apartment.

Walked down to the Blvd Haussman which was only a 10mins walk. OMG I couldn't believe the crowds in Galleries Lafayette. Yuk, Printemps was much more civilised. It was only for a quick recce to check out the handbags!!! I was a bit disappointed to be honest. I bought a gorgeous Longchamps bag 4 years ago and of course I am trying to find similar but different. Oh, well only day one of the search.

The weather has been very interesting today, started off sunny and cool, then went cloudy and cold, then has come sunny and warm!!

The 9th district is different, today because of the holiday weekend it is very quiet. Almost too quiet, you get the feeling everyone has disappeared (which they probably have) the shops and cafes are closed to a large extent. It doesn't have that buzz to it at the moment. However, that soon changed the closer one got to the Blvd Haussman, then it was wall to wall tourists. hmm, one extreme to the other.

I was wanting to find my "regular" cafe to be, but so far haven't discovered anything that will fit the bill. Maybe on Monday it may show itself!

I had forgotten how dirty cities can be. I guess living in the Sydney surburbs one doesn't see all the papers and rubbish and dog poop strewn all over the streets. I thought Paris was cleaner from memory. The gutters are full of cans, cups and papers, the cigarette butts are everywhere. I hope after a few days I will be able to not notice this. There is a lot of building and renovation work going on in the 9th adding to the desolate appearance. I know I am sounding a bit negative here, but just saying it like I am seeing it on day one and two.

We went to St. George Metro and the nice man behind the counter sorted out our Navigio Decouverte. We had taken passport photos with us but he didn't even ask us for them. We bought the pass and put on one weeks worth of "tickets". We can start using this on Monday. He did this all for us and I enjoyed using my french. I have to tried to speak french at all times, so far so good. I guess I have improved since I was here last.

It is the first Sunday of the month tomorrow so we are going to pick a museum, I think perhaps the Marmottan Monet. We haven't been there before. We are practically next door to the Gustave Moreau museum so we may add that on to the list as well.

I am going to have a well deserved cup of tea now and then I may head out again for another walk. I have lots of info of this district so rather than wandering aimlessly around I will now read about the area as I go and know what it is I am looking at.

Till later,
Schnauzer

Since the Marmottan is a private museum it probably isn't free for the first Sunday of the month. Don't let that stop you from going though. It is a wonderful museum.

Thanks for the info AGM, how do you find out which are private and which are public?

Schnauzer

Schnauzer,

The museum pass page shows all those that are on the pass...perhaps on the pass brouchre, too. Jacquemarte-Andre is another popular private one.

The "extra" trash is probably due to it being a holiday weekend and things are not getting their normal cleanups.
I noticed some ocerfilled green trash containers here, in the 7th earlier today. Most popular restaurants are open around here..all the Constants are open.

Enjoy your stay....

a bientot....

Joan

I knew that the Marmottan was a private museum since we tried to get in using the Museum Pass. Not accepted! Here is a website with information of what museums are free on Sunday. It is in French but the list is self explanatory. Have fun. http://www.parisinfo.com/paris-guide...-toute-l-annee

schnauzer, I'm enjoying this. And I know where your "hood" because I went to the Gustave Moreau twice when we were in Paris at the end of March. The second time was to retrieve my forgotten glasses :-<

Looking forward to more.

Regarding the trash, it is picked up 364 days a year in Paris. It is not picked up on May 1st.

I thought perhaps it had something to do with the holiday weekend. It does seem somewhat stange that the only day for not picking up is May 1st.

Joan

Enjoying your report...

I was dismayed to read about the trash. Hope it has been picked up!

May 1st is Labor Day. You are not supposed to work on that day, and sanitation workers do not.

You should still add the photos to your ND id card yourself, and finish filling it out, in case the 'checkers' want to check you in the subway.

Thanks Travelnut I will add my photo after I have finished writing up the rest of yesterday's activities and today's.

After my well earned cup of tea I headed back out again, this time by myself. I was following some notes on the 9th that I had printed out. I found the lovely Square d'Orleans off rue Taitbout #80, Chopin lived here as well as George Sand. You have to enter through a large doorway which appears locked, however a lady entered just before me and I followed in hot pursuit. I had a look around and then came back out onto the street. A french lady approached me and asked in french if this was the Square d"Orleans and how did she get in? The good bit was a) she asked me in French b) I understood and c) answered back in French!!!!What a confidence booster!! I walked back down the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre for quite a while and took a detour up rue Cadet where I couldn't resist a yummy slice of apricot tart with the flakiest butteriest pastry! I quickly disposed of that and after wiping custard and apricots off my face I headed down to Passage Verdeau and kept going into Passage Jouffroy. My feet were aching my this time so I headed back home to the apartment.

I was fading fast by this time and we went out to the No Stress Cafe near Place St. Georges. The cafe was buzzing but the food was quite ordinary, it filled the spot quickly which by that stage was the main aim. I had the pasta with basil, tomatoes and mozarella, DH had the squid and prawn noodles.

Back home to bed.

I am going to write my notes on word and paste them here so I will return soon.

Schnauzer

Bonjour Schnauzer!

Lovely trip report so far.

>> crowds at Galleries Lafayette. Yuk, Printemps was much more civilised.

--- LOL I think we're on the same wavelength. I get that everytime I go to GL and it always makes me go to Printemps instead. Plus, the VAT refund line is much shorter at Printemps (at least when I went there)!

>> No Stress Cafe near Place St. Georges
Funny name for a cafe; too bad the food was ordinary.

Your encounter at Square d'Orleans made me smile! :-)

S'il vous plaît continuer à écrire plus à propos de votre voyage agréable!

May 3rd Sunday
Woke up early but at least I had a decent nights sleep. We decided to go to the Picasso Museum today and also if the weather held out go on the Planted Promenade walk from the Bastille.

We caught the metro and arrived at the museum, I am not a great fan of Picasso but my DH wanted to have a look. Thus the reason for choosing the free Sunday option, nothing lost something gained. We had a coffee first in the garden, I thought the lady said the coffee was free because it was so cold today, great I thought, sounded too good to be true, which of course it was. I realised that she meant it was uncrowded and we could sit anywhere. Oops the French let me down this morning. We toured the museum which if you were a fan of Picasso would be great. Enough of funny faces and we headed off the Bastille through the beautiful Place de Vosges via the Rayure shop. I need to come back and take my time choosing my new Rayure tops, I do like them.

We found the entrance to the Planted Promenade at the side of the Opera Bastille. It is an old railway track that has been planted out with beautiful trees and shrubs, very peaceful and calming. There were lots of joggers out making me feel guilty. The walk is about 4.5kms in length. You reach a park in the middle and then continue on, the buildings become very modern apartment blocks, the walk continues after a mall style street and changes its format into a much wilder style of planting, very quiet and relaxing. We ducked out at Belair metro and caught the train back to Pont Marie for lunch and a walk around the Ile St-Louis.

We had eaten at Le Caveau de l’Isle at 36 rue Saint Louis en l’Isle four years ago when we were last in Paris. We had very much enjoyed our meal and thought we would return. It had been a Fodor’s recommendation and a good one at that. We both had the Foie gras with fig marmalade and toast, I had the steak with Bernaise sauce and the hottest crispy potatoes which were just lovely. DH had the duck and a potato galette. I chose the Tarte Tartine for dessert. Last time I had tried the blackcurrant sorbet which was just divine so I asked if I could have a serve of that on the side which they did. Dh had waffles and chocolate sauce. It was the same menu as we had had four years ago, which was interesting. I guess it means they do it well and stick to a winning formula. They were very friendly and the service excellent.

I had printed off a walk from a book I had borrowed from the library which pointed out interesting houses and sights around the island. We followed the walk but by now it was getting a bit cold and our feet were dropping off. Back to the apartment but via the Gustave Moreau museum which is in our street.

Gustave Moreau’s paintings were not really our thing, very dark and depressing subjects. How Monet learnt from him I don’t know; their work was so completely opposite.

Back to the apartment for another well earned cup of tea and a feet up and a Fodors write up.

After that huge lunch we are going to have some of our cheese, terrine and salad left over from yesterday for dinner. I am still fit to burst so I might not even fit that in.

Today it was much colder, I had on a vest, long sleeve t shirt, lamb’s wool jumper, cords, thick socks and jacket with a scarf. I wasn’t frozen or anything, but the sun really didn’t come out all day and that makes such a difference temperature wise.

I have got to think of lots of places to go using my Navigo card tomorrow, I want to practice whizzing through those turnstiles! Maybe a trip to Bon Marche might be on the cards. I want to find that HBV shop as well.

I finally heard from Paris Greeter, about five days before we left home. We have organized a tour of Montmatre with a lady on Wednesday which sounds good. She says she likes having Aussies on her tours.

Until tomorrow,
Schnauzer

My adventures continue.

Today we decided to do different things, I went off to look at Bon Marche and then I did a walking tour through Lost Paris, following Leonard Pitt’s book.

I was still on the hunt for this elusive handbag which I can’t find. Bon Marche is such a beautiful shop it was no hardship going around and around. I wanted to find the Longchamps boutique as the lady at Longchamp at Bon Marche told me they would have everything there. Only 5 mins away she tells me. She obviously didn’t know how navigationally challenged I am. I sent off in the direction I thought was right (it was right, I later discovered) checked my map, oh no the wrong way, so I turned around, headed back past Bon Marche. I decided to duck into the Grand Epicerie and got told off for taking a photo of the fantastic cakes!! Interdit Madame. Oops. After salivating over the amazing displays of cold cuts, fruit, cakes and everything else I decided to buy a lunch bag, made up of a crispy French stick with ham and cheese, a chocolate macaroon and a bottle of water. Good value at 6.50E. Clutching my lunch off I headed down rue Sevres realizing when I reached the Vaneau metro that I had gone in the completely wrong direction. Zut alors. I turned around again and walked past Bon Marche for the third time. I saw a lovely little park next to the shop and went in and joined the locals having lunch sitting on a bench in the beautiful sunshine. Young mums were watching their charges on the play equipment and young lovers were lazing on the grass with bottles of something exotic and the older lady next to me was having a nap. Ah, life is good. Off I went again, these huge intersections are very confusing, I was just about to open my mouth and ask a lady at the crossing which direction I should be heading when she asked me for directions!! So I got out my little plan book and together we found where we both needed to get to. Eventually I found the Longchamp boutique – only 1.5hrs later!!! Oh, well not much more than 5 minutes then!!! After all that they really didn’t have anything different to what I had seen elsewhere. So the search continues. I then took the metro to start on my walk.

Using my book I started my walk, it was very interesting trying to envisage what Paris used to look like before Haussman’s redevelopment. I walked from St. Germain des Pres metro along the main boulevard and in and out of some tiny original streets that had been spared from demolition. You can see how overcrowded it would have been hundreds of years ago. I found Paris’ oldest café, dating back from 1600’s and it is still going today. Hopefully they have changed the menu in the meantime. I found a lovely courtyard called Cour du Rohan which ends almost opposite the café. I entered from rue du
Jardinet, the courtyards – there are three, date from the 14th century and were just gorgeous. I continued on the walk ducking in and out of interesting streets ending up at Place St. Michel and then onto Rue Saint-Julien le Pauvre where the Church of St. Julien is the second oldest church in Paris. (Having started at St. Germain – the oldest) The walk ends at Square Viviani opposite Notre Dame.

I had a quick look at Shakespeare and Co. but it was so crowded I didn’t last long. Back on the metro and home. As I waited at the metro station I could hear lovely French accordion music getting louder as the train approached, in the same carriage that I got into was an old boy playing his accordion, unfortunately the metro police got on and booked him which I thought was very sad. It was so perfectly French sounding.

DH spent the day walking around Passy and the16th, he saw some fabulous architecture and I think I will do the walk myself another day.

We went out to Les Deux Theatres for dinner. It was only around the corner. The service was very lacking, almost back to the old French “we don’t like tourists” mentality. No warmth, so assistance, you felt like you had disturbed them and were a major inconvenience. Finally a young male waiter began helping us and he at least had a smile. I had the bottom of an artichoke, smoked salmon and poached egg with a mustard dressing over salad, DH had Tuna Tartare, we both had the Veal Kidneys and special crispy potatoes for mains. We shared the crème brulee and the profiteroles with hot chocolate sauce that came out very cold. After pointing this out we then received a huge bowl of boiling choc sauce!! Coffee and a bottle of wine was included along with a champagne cocktail to start for 38.00E a head.

A reasonably early night as we had been awake since 5.00am that morning.

More to do tomorrow!!

Schnauzer

Great report -- I can tell that you're going to get the most out of Paris. May you have many unplanned discoveries!

Hi Schnauzer, enjoying your report. I'm also from the suburbs of Sydney and appreciate that it is a huge contrast to be in the centre of the busy city like Paris. You did well to sleep on the plane, last time I barely got a wink either way and the jet lag was horrible.

For your aching feet - before you head out each day, put some water in the fridge or make ice, or both, whatever is possible. When you get back if you have an appropriate container, soak your poor feet in the iciest water you can stand for 10 minutes or so. It really hurts, but 1/2 an hour later you will feel so much better.

I love the story of you walking tour on your own. My first trip to Paris we were only a block away from le bon Marche and it became one of our favourite haunts, aren't those cakes fabulous!! I strolled through there one day, highly amused to watch my two very stylish (early 50's) girlfriends being followed by a security guard - I've no idea why, as they looked very respectable!!

Keep your report coming, it's a lovely read.

Thanks for the great report.

I understand what you mean about the crowds at the Galeries Lafayette. When I was in Paris in November, the crowds outside on the sidewalk were so bad that I didn't even get off the bus.

hi schnauzer,

thanks for posting live. i'm really enjoying your report! i've noted down the details of your walk through the 6th...we'll be staying in that area this fall and it sounds like something fun to do!

looking forward to the rest of your report...

enjoy your time there.

lilaki

Hi Everyone, Glad you are enjoying my report. Today I don't have too much to report. I had been fighting off a cold for days and this morning it decided to finally make a move! The day was very cloudy so feeling sorry for myself I stayed inside for most of the day. The luxury of having a whole month is that you don't feel obliged to rush out at every opportunity. After a lunch at the apartment, the smell of the cheeses we bought the other day are staying to take over the fridge, so we thought we needed to eat up, I had a little read and then we went out to meet a lady who I had met through corresponding about the apartment. They had signed the guest book and I emailed to get a reference from them. We have kept in touch and the wife is here by herself for the month of May also, we planned a rendezvous and met at Marriages Freres this afternoon. We sat and chatted for over two hours!! Certainly this travelling brings strangers together. We have arranged to meet again in a couple of days to walk the Bois du Boulogne together.

DH and I went out to Les Diables du Thyme for a lovely meal. The sun has set and now it is time to go to sleep. Bon nuit.
Schnauzer

<i> Bonne nuit. </i>

Whoa, a WHOLE month!! How did I miss that?? I am green with envy. (I just looked in the mirror and it's true!!) So I can't wait to see Paris in the springtime and turning into summer through your eyes. Sleep tight!

Hi schnauzer,

Another one from the sunny suburbs of Sydney here. And very jealous of your whole month in Paris.

I am reading everything I can in preparation for my 5 days at the end of June.

Keep up the great report. I feel like I right there with you. (well almost).

Enjoying your report and the memories it evokes. I hope you are planning a day trip to Giverny. It is beautiful this time of year.

Hi Schnauzer,

I'm finding your updates from Paris so enjoyable. I believe I will be meeting you on the 23rd (unless I've got that all mixed up--very, very possible). If not, I will be following your adventures here.

Merci beauoup,

L

Hi Everyone, thanks for keeping in touch. I like getting the feedback. Nice to hear from fellow Sydneysiders.

Leely2 I am going to both GTGs in Paris, the 9th and the 23rd, so yes I will see you then. Looking forward to meeting everyone very much.

off for an exercise walk now, those lunches, dinners and macarons are catching up already.
Schnauzer

Hello, enjoying this very much. Sharing your month helps me last until I can start my month the end of September.

I always missed Paris and would thrive on trip reports. I wasn't sure when or how or if I would return after I had a fall down my Paris apartment stairs last year. I tried not to go onto Fodor's much and divert my interest. Very thankful all is well now. I have been working and diligently socking away my "Paris money". I try to tell myself it is different this time but my extra money always turns into "Paris money".

I had great GTG last year. Hope for another this year.

Thank you so much for the day by day. I love it!

Hi, I am loving your report and envying your 1 month stay. I will be arriving on the 14th and Looking forward to meeting you at the GTG on the 23rd.Meanwhile continue your wonderful reports.
TINA

HI All, Had a huge day today, walking, walking, walking. In fact I was falling asleep at this super restaurant we found. Will have to update tomorrow.

Bon Nuit,
Schnauzer

Wednesday 6th May

Went for a jogette in the morning where it was 13o, a bit nippy. We seemed to have a late start and didn’t get out of the apartment until 11.00. We followed another walk I had discovered around the Beaubourg area. We saw Paris’ oldest house twice!! Everyone wants to have this claim apparently. We saw from the outside the Georges Pompidou Centre, it really was most peculiar. We then made a wrong turn and got very confused with the walk, ending up back tracking and going all over the place. However I found a fabulous Indian hole in the wall café and bought a jellaby (not sure of spelling) which is an Indian sweet (emphasis on sweet) meat. It was divine, sweet, syrupy and crispy at the same time. A concoction of basically sugar and batter deep fried! Almost opposite was the BVH dog supply shop. A definite return visit required to stock up on gifts for the fuzzy babes at home. We had originally planned to go to the 7th for lunch but time was getting away from us as we had another walk organized with the Paris Greeter at 3.00pm in Montmatre. As it was now gone 1.30pm we just stopped at a crepe place. I ordered a galette with cheese, ham, egg and parsley which was really good. DH ordered a Caesar Salad which was nearly inedible. The staff didn’t seem perturbed that he had left most of it and even after we explained how bad it was they just shrugged and charged us anyway. Not a big success there.

We caught the metro back up to Blanche for our meeting with Roslyn. She was petite French lady who loved Australians having lived in Sydney 20 years ago and travelled back several times. She was very pleasant but not particularly informative. We had been to Montmatre ourselves last time and had seen a lot of the same stuff then, the other young American couple who came with us on the tour had never been to Paris before and I am not sure what they made of the whole thing. It was a very pleasant walk around the area but we didn’t really get an in depth look behind the scenes or pick up those extra tidbits of info.

Our feet were aching by this time and we went back to the apartment before we had to head out for dinner.

Now the dinner story was interesting. The 9th isn’t over endowed with restaurant options, at least not within the immediate vicinity of the apartment. I have both the Sandra Gustafson book and the Michelin red guide so we had a plan of action. There appeared to be a few good ones down rue St. George. The first was Japanese, (didn’t feel like Japanese) the second Italian, not bad, quite $$, the next was closed and shuttered, the next just closed, the next closed but with a sign saying they will be open on the 11th May. Hmm, is there something going on that we don’t know about? Okay, back to rue St. Lazare, the next one had turned from a restaurant into a cooking school, okay, the next one then, oh no this one was having a private function and had no bookings. The next one wanted $80 for a main course, I don’t think so. We were starting to get that Twilight Zone feeling. I had two more options, 6 and 8 rue Lamartine. Number 8 appeared to be a jewelry shop but ah ha, number 6 was actually a restaurant and guess what they were open and had food!!!! In we went, did we have a reservation? Gulp, no, a quick look at the book and a table appeared. It was called Carte Blanche. I had found this on a food reviewer’s web blog. The food was very unusual to say the least. Nice unusual though. Our waiter was a young friendly lad and after asking for some English explanations as the menu was so bizarre we couldn’t understand it. This perfectly sounding Frenchman then spoke in a very broad English accent. Absolutely bilingual.

I chose the macaron – yes sweet macaron with prawns and exotique onion relish. DH had the home made foie gras. Both were very good and fabulously presented. The entrée was very different but not inedible combination. For mains I had individually barbecued lamb brochettes with potatoes and beans (at last some greens) and a four spice paste like homous to go with it. It was served on its own tiny little hot plate on the tray, very cute. DH had a combination of squid and pigeon, he had to order this just to see what they would come up with. It came with a grain salad. The squid was nothing exciting but the poor pigeon was terrific. For desserts I had the chocolate meringue combination, and DH had Tonka and madelines. Hmm, Tonka, isn’t that a kids truck? It is also a South American grain. It was like a crème brulee consistency with a concentrated fruit paste concoction on top. Again very different but very good. We had a bottle of Viognier which was from the Rhone Valley, quite pleasant but quite light.

So after trawling through 8 other restaurants we finally found a super spot.

Today is destined to be lovely and sunny so Bois de Boulogne it is.

Schnauzer

Carte Blanche is a fine restaurant. Know it rather well.

No, not many restaurants up that way. Some good bus/metro rides to mnay restaurants, though.

Joan

Don't know how I missed this. I hope your cold is better. I'm still recovering from my return with bronkitis, You instill the need to return. Thank you.

Dear Schnauzer,
I have been following your travels with interest as we have stayed in your apartment at the corner of Rochefoucauld and Aumale for probably a total of at least 6 months. The funniest thing is that we were at Carte Blanche last night also! We have been going to this restaurant since it opened and even taken a cooking class there. We had several dishes between the four of us----My son had the menu Carte Blanche and he had lamb instead of pigeon with calamari as his main. The white asparagus with strawberry entree was delicious. All had ravioli with foie gras with caramalized balsamic vinegar, not listed on the menu, a specialty of the chef that he knows is one of my favorites. Someone had the sot l'y laisse and crevettes tandoori style and another had the rouget. I had the gambas bouquet des fleurs. Desserts were ganache tendre with peach mousse and a madeline, melon and strawberry soup with pepper ice cream,strawberries in a wine sauce with caramel/ginger ice cream and a warm financier, and a cheesecake with huge fresh blueberries,blackberries and strawberries. You have several good restaurants near you----Casa Olympe, Dell Orto, Sizin, Romain and even the starred Jean----the 9th is not a dining desert. I have to agree with you about Deux Theatres. There are two very good bargain restaurants called Bistro Canaille and also Corneil known for its cote de boeuf for two. Carpe Diem is a good value as is Fontaine Fiacre. Have fun discovering the wonders of the your new neighborhood.

Ms Laidback

Hi Laidback,
That is an amazing coincidence!! I was the gorgeous tall slim blonde young thing..... oh hang on that is my alter ego!!! Where were you sitting? We were on the same side as the bar two tables up. I think we were the first to leave the restaurant. We really enjoyed the food. I knew about some of those other retaurants they were the ones that were closed, and the Jean was the $80aus for a main course.

Where are you staying this time? Are you still in the 9th?

Are you coming to the GTG tomorrow night? I would love to see you there.

More of my travels to come in my next post.
Schnauzer

It is looking like a nice day today. I think we will go to St. Germain en Laye for a look around.

I will post my exursions for the last couple of days later. This post keeps sinking so if you are enjoying the read please comment and bring back to the top. merci.

Schnauzer

Schnauzer,
I know what you mean about things being closed.I think with the two Friday holidays that a lot of people just took the entire week in between off. We were at the very first table on the left hand side as you enter Carte Blanche. We are staying on rue St. Lazare now. Have spent April traveling around Burgundy and are now in Paris. We had a delicious meal last night at Cafe Qui Parle on rue Caulaincourt. No, we won't be attending the GTG as we have family in town. Have a great time in St Germain en Laye.

Ms.Laidback