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I've missed a few days' blogging, as we've had some longs days and nights trying to fit everything in.
On Wednesday, we first went to the Louvre. I believe it's the largest art museum in the world, and it's impossible to see all of what's there. We gave it a decent crack though, as we stayed for 7 hours! We saw Greek and Roman statues - the Venus de Milo was a highlight; the Mona Lisa, and Albrecht Drurer self-portrait, a roomful of Reubens, and much more. It was also interesting to see rooms from the Louvre apartment of Napolean III.
We then walked through the Tulleries Gardens, and all the way up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. I'm not much of shopper, but we did stop at the Mercedes Benz store.
As if that wasn't a great deal for one day, we then caught the Metro up to Montmarte. It was a beautiful sight to see the city of Paris below at night. It was so hot still, we had a cold beer on the terrace before walking through the village to have dinner at a small restaurnat Bennett is fond of. We all had duck, and it was done beautifully. Trained it home to Rue de Clery and walked the wrong way at first so we didn't drag ourselves up the building's 6 flights of steps until about 1:00. Long day, but everything was so wonderful, it didn't matter.
Thursday we caught the RER train to Versailles. It was another bright, clear and hot day, so we didn't mind too much that we got on the train that took an 110 minutes rather than 35! We spent the first 2 1/2 hours there going through the Chateau - the decadence is mind-blowing. After eating a baguette in the Garden, we hired a rowboat and paddled around the Grand Canal which was fun. We then had ice creams and toured the Grand Trianon and more of the Gardens. We needed to stop for beers before taking the train back to Paris.
Thursday night we ate at an outside cafe just blocks from our apt in Arrondissement 2. I had a cassolette with jambon and goat's cheese - essentially fancy scalloped potatoes, but it was good. So tired after the second straight day of walking at least 10 miles, but it was aother great day.
Friday we got our first thunderstorms, but they were a nice break from the heat. We met Ben Knuth (Slayton native) for lunch at an old-style Parisienne cafeteria. I had a dish with saurkraut, Peter had a head of veal, and Bennett had duck for the 3rd meal in a row. It was lovely company and a great meal. Ben knew so much about Paris, having lived here for 5 years.
We napped and went to Gare du Nord to meet my friend Janey Bailey who took the Eurostar from London to spend a night/day with us. We went out to dinner at Le Boudoir off the Champs Elysee. Beautiful meal with the latest twists to traditional French fare - foie gras, pates, and the like. It was so great to catch up with Janey, her cousin Martin, his wife Y and their dog Bella .
Janey's tummy did not take to the nouveau cuisine, so we spent the morning just chatting at our apt. We walked around Arr 2, had lunch, then took her back to catch her train home. Peter and I walked to Montmarte again to see the Basilica du Sacre Coeur. It was pretty crowded on a Saturday, but good to have a daytime look through Montmarte. Early night to catch up for tomorrow's final day in Paris. The week's gone so fast!
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