Monday April 20th, 2009

We started out early on Monday morning, which was a change!! Had a quick breakfast across the road and then hopped on the Metro towards St. Germain des Pres and the Latin Quarter. It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day, with highs of 22 degrees. we fell in love with the St. Germain area. The first two of our three Paris Walks for the day took us through tiny streets, beautiful buildings, and a serene, peaceful neighbourhood. Then on the last walk we came across a very busy but still wonderful street with cafes and bakeries. Stopped at "Paul" which had a vast selection of pre made sandwiches, freshly cooked breads and tarts/desserts galore. Got lunch to go and sat at their outside tables, enjoying the sun and the delicious food.

Ended up back in the touristy area south of Notre Dame. Found Shakespeare and Co, the famous english language used book store, just to have a peak inside. We came across a treasure of a cafe a few streets in, on a very quiet, picturesque road. There Manaen enjoyed a beer and I had a cafe au lait before we went to sit in the park behind Notre Dame. We people watched for a while before slowly making our way back to the apartment. That night we planned a picnic dinner at Trocadero fountains in front of the Eiffel tower, so we ducked into stores and bought supplies - a bottle of wine, a baguette, pate, boursin cheese, deli meats and pasta salad. Off to the Eiffel tower!!

We arrived around 7pm to enjoy the last of the days sun. Had a wonderful time, although I should have brought a sweater but Manaen came to my rescue and gave me his! It was quite windy. There were groups of teenagers trying to throw each other in the fountains so that was a bit distracting, but entertaining! Waited for the sun to set and the Eiffel Tower's lights to turn on. We watched it sparkle at 9pm before making our way back to the Metro, and home for the evening.