At home, the French do not eat bread plain. Butter on bread is the most likely combo. With cheese is next. For a simple dessert, butter and blue cheese. At upscale restaurants, butter is included with the bread service. Other than that, casual restaurants do not serve butter with the bread. But then again, it is used as accompaniment to soup or salad or the main dish when it has "un peu de sauce."

What is the name of the walking tour company that ditched you.... and didn't respond!

"Be forewarned, it�s lengthy since I find the details and impressions in other people�s trip reports helpful!"

Well, Vickiebypass, you've certainly done your share of helpful. I found your observations to be key in doing the last fine-detail planning of our recent Scandinavia trip. While I absorbed a lot of online information from 100s of people to prepare for that trip, only a very few comments made my "copy and paste" into hard copy as a take-along. Yours and thursdaysd's report truly helped us.

As to Paris...
We've gone to Paris perhaps 20 times at this juncture, and we've walked everywhere for miles and miles, usually having at least one goal while allotting time for discovery. Yes, I've visited many of the off-the-beat places you've visited so far. With each trip, we always tried new fast food, new restaurants, a new neighborhood, a new theme (eg, all the Passages), but you've seen things we've certainly never seen. I am in awe.

Once my youngest, our daughter who actually spent her year abroad in France, comes back from a trip, I'm going to pump her for more information. Even as a student there, she never slept in and was instead out exploring a new walk and a new site. I bet you she'll be green with envy about your discoveries.

Re The Resistance Museum
I'm so happy you asked all those questions. We came away from that hard-to-find original site with more questions than answers, and I was very frustrated by the fact that these monuments to bravery and courage had not been celebrated more. Yes, the street names after them are ubiquitous, but even the new museum is hard to find. There would be no France without them.

Anyway, KUDOES to you. I shall be downloading your final report and shall make sure everyone in our family reads it.
AZ

vickiebypass, thank you for the details regarding the chocolate shop! On my list for 'next time.'

The name of the walking tour company who never showed up and hasn't responded in two weeks is Localers. Their website looked legit and their tours were appealing; I understand that it's possible I may have missed a message from them cancelling the tour but there's no excuse for them not to respond to my 3 phone messages, my email and my WhatsApp message. That night I checked Yelp and there were a number of older reviews from people who had the exact same problem. I guess the moral of the story is check reviews and give them some consideration.

AZ - thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed my details and sometimes stream of consciousness comments!

Day 9, Sat, 11/9: Grey and 50’s
I was booked on the 10:54 Eurostar train from Gare du Nord to London St. Pancras, 2hrs 36 mins. They tell you what time to arrive since you have to go through passport and border process so my arrival time was 9:29. I trundled my suitcase and backpack (full of chocolate bars from supermarkets) to the Etienne Marcel metro station and took line 4 directly to Gare du Nord.

The check-in process was very easy and the clerk asked if I’d like to take the 9:54 train instead; she said “it would be better since we have an issue with the 10:54 train”, so of course I said yes. I actually don't think there was any issue, but it was a 3 day weekend so the trains were busy and if she could fill an empty seat on the 9:54, then they could sell my seat on the 10:54. Fine with me.

The train was fine – I had reserved an aisle seat near the luggage racks at the rear of the car, with a good window view. There’s not much to see from a scenery perspective so I read the whole way.

That's it - Paris fini! Thank you all for reading along and your comments.

If you’re interested, I’ll be posting a trip report for the London portion (also off the beaten path)!

Your stream-of-consciousness comments in various art museums in past posts was what made my husband a HUGE fan. Keep it going. I'm in for the ride.

Vickie, now this is an excellent TR, invaluable to readers on any travel forum.
Glad that you went beyond the obvious Parisian places.
Looking forward to London.
I am done. the Vickie TR

"At home, the French do not eat bread plain. Butter on bread is the most likely combo. With cheese is next. For a simple dessert, butter and blue cheese"

I remember, on a school exchange en famille decades ago, being given a piece of baguette with chunks of chocolate as a mid-afternoon sandwich snack.

Bread and chocolate. That sounds like a wonderful go�ter.

Bread and bleu cheese is a favorite of mine...I should have bought some and had that for dinner a few nights! Of course, bread and butter (that's why I never got into bread making because I would eat it all either plain or with butter). And bread with chocolate...hmmmmm.

Several years ago, in some bakery somewhere in the world, I encountered chocolate bread with chunks of chocolate and was entranced. Not white bread with chocolate, but the yeasty bread was chocolate. At one of the boulangeries along Rue Montorgueil this time, I found chocolate and walnut (or hazelnut) rolls. I bought one and ate it right away and went back in to buy two more. Bread.... a perfect food.

We don't eat bread plain for breakfast. That's when butter is used. For the other meals, it is eaten the same at home as in a restaurant -- as a plain accompaniment with "saucy" meals or spread with p�t� or cheese.

Thanks for that kerouac, I was sure we have had many a baguette with butter and jam for breakfast in France. My husband routinely uses bread to get every lick of sauce off his plate at dinnertime, even when we are in France!

Really enjoyed this. Always fun to learn about new places, especially since I will probably be going to Paris next year. Thanks for all the info!

What did you think of the apartment you stayed in from VIP? I've lurked the website at the Vieux and the Scaramouche for many years, but we never pulled the trigger.

apersuader65 This was at least the 3rd apt I've rented from VIP and they've all been great. The agency is located in NJ (USA) and are extremely responsive both to emails and via phone. The owner knows all the properties and can answer questions about them; she's also willing to give a knowledgeable opinion about choosing one apt vs another. The photos on the website are accurate and since there are so many, you can get a good sense of what the apartment really looks like including specific furnishings (lighting is important for me, so I look for floor lamps!); cushy sofa/chairs; TV location; etc. All their listings include a floor plan which helps you visualize the apt. (Note that the owners provide the photos so I skip the ones that have lots of "arty" photos of flowers in a vase, colorful pillows strewn on a bed, etc.).

Some of the apts have been "meet & greet" where the local owner/manager meets you, shows you around the apt explaining how to use WIFI, appliances, garbage process, etc and hands over the keys. One of them involved sending me the keys in advance with very thorough explanations of how to find & enter the apt. Each apt has a "guest book" with info about appliances, heat/AC, local shops, attractions, etc.

To be fair, I also use the large vacation rental online outfits successfully. The reason I like VIP is that all their apts are people's homes, not cookie cutter units decorated on the cheap with IKEA style furniture and no personality. It is nice having a real person to deal with who is always responsive and wants to make my rental successful (I remember one time in a VIP apt near the Eiffel Tower when there were multiple snow storms and the local manager contacted me several times to make sure I was doing OK with the weather). OTOH, I have also had good experiences emailing unit owners on either of the large online outfits with specific questions about their units. I've only had one bad experience with an online rental (the unit hadn't been cleaned before I arrived but it was resolved very quickly). I definitely recommend VIP and will continue to use them for my Paris visits.

I've used them in the past as well, our first trip to Paris almost 20 years ago was at the old ID #2 behind Le Tambour. It obviously was one of their original two units and we actually rented it from the old website. Stayed at #8 Classique about 15 years ago, and due to a catastrophic door lock failure, also stayed at what is now #2 Garden Studio one night while we waited for a locksmith to come fix the security lock and let us back in!

Thanks for the information.

Vickie, getting both the Barcelona companies from whom we recently rented to agree to meet n' greet' was like pulling teeth. I sent each a number of reminder emails in advance, but they were either forgotten about or ?
After much hair-pulling and raising of voices, both eventually sent representatives.
Btw, we've got a recco about a house rental (yes a real house) in the 20e. Smallish but good for couples. Carrefour and others right next door. Ditto a stylish massage business. A real residential neighborhood, one that'd never win any beauty contests but...
I am done. the rentalz

Absolutely fantastic.....reveling in reading about all the new discoveries!!
This is worth printing out and bringing along if and when I ever return to Paris.....
Thank you!!!