Paris day 2 ended up landing on a Sunday. Sundays are important days in Europe. It means you usually end up rearranging your schedule multiply times because shops are closed or don’t open at the time you thought. In a big city and such a touristy place it is not such a big deal but it changes the name of the game none the less.
The little shop with the coffee and delicious pastry was closed…but there was something better!
A market.
I have to say that I love my markets. I’ll stop gushing and tell you that we shopped for food. For breakfast and for our picnic lunch that was yet to come. It smelled wonderful and I wished I could wake up to it every day.
Then it was off to Saint Capelle to see beautiful stain glass windows. We picked a day that had some decent light that shone through windows.
Tip 4: Get any discount you can. Student Visas in the EU gave me a discount to Saint Capelle. Score.
Then I did something that 4 months ago I would not have thought was a big deal. I got a coffee to take away. As in, it was in a cup that I could walk out the door with and then I could throw the cup away. Did you know that this was possible?!? I felt like such a traitor to the Italian tradition of enjoying a coffee. But I was in France, right?
Afterwards we went to meet our friends for a picnic lunch. We chose to go to Luxenbourg gardens. It is huge and gorgeous and there are trees everywhere. It took awhile to get there. There was a direct metro line but it was naturally closed for construction. And so we walked. It wasn’t supposed to be that far. But it was and then we were late for our meet up time. So we stopped to buy wine to make up for it. And in the process of buying wine realized that we could only buy a bottle that had a screw top because we didn’t have a bottle opener. Why don’t I live in a movie where this wouldn’t have been a problem?
Tip 5: Have at least one picnic in Paris. There are beautiful parks everywhere {ok that’s just how it seems}.
The picnic was great and nice. So fun to people watch and overhear conversations. And then we decided to look for a famous macaroon place. Wouldn’t you know that that would also be difficult? When we finally found them we then took our goodies to Montre Mart. Yummy!
We climbed the staircase to the top where there is a church and looked at the sun going down over the city. Paris is huge. We went into Sacre Corre the beautiful white cathedral/church at the top of the hill. They have the most interesting painting on the dome. Sorry I couldn’t take a picture. {I went in twice, yep I’m one of those…it was free though!}
Afterwards we headed to the “shopping” district up there on the hill. If I don’t see another souvenir shop I might be a happy camper. There was some cute stuff, but most of it was the same ole stuff. We walked around the district up there looking at the tourist shops and restaurants. Trying to decide where to eat and still have enough money for meals the next few days. We went back down the hill and looked around. And then we climbed the hundreds of stairs again in search of cheaper more authentic food. I had my first Croque Mousier. Again Yum!
We headed down and found Moulin Rouge which wasn’t too far. Then we went back to our itsy bitsy apartment. The end of day 2 in the adventures of Paris saga…
The little shop with the coffee and delicious pastry was closed…but there was something better!
A market.
I have to say that I love my markets. I’ll stop gushing and tell you that we shopped for food. For breakfast and for our picnic lunch that was yet to come. It smelled wonderful and I wished I could wake up to it every day.
Then it was off to Saint Capelle to see beautiful stain glass windows. We picked a day that had some decent light that shone through windows.
Tip 4: Get any discount you can. Student Visas in the EU gave me a discount to Saint Capelle. Score.
Then I did something that 4 months ago I would not have thought was a big deal. I got a coffee to take away. As in, it was in a cup that I could walk out the door with and then I could throw the cup away. Did you know that this was possible?!? I felt like such a traitor to the Italian tradition of enjoying a coffee. But I was in France, right?
Afterwards we went to meet our friends for a picnic lunch. We chose to go to Luxenbourg gardens. It is huge and gorgeous and there are trees everywhere. It took awhile to get there. There was a direct metro line but it was naturally closed for construction. And so we walked. It wasn’t supposed to be that far. But it was and then we were late for our meet up time. So we stopped to buy wine to make up for it. And in the process of buying wine realized that we could only buy a bottle that had a screw top because we didn’t have a bottle opener. Why don’t I live in a movie where this wouldn’t have been a problem?
Tip 5: Have at least one picnic in Paris. There are beautiful parks everywhere {ok that’s just how it seems}.
The picnic was great and nice. So fun to people watch and overhear conversations. And then we decided to look for a famous macaroon place. Wouldn’t you know that that would also be difficult? When we finally found them we then took our goodies to Montre Mart. Yummy!
We climbed the staircase to the top where there is a church and looked at the sun going down over the city. Paris is huge. We went into Sacre Corre the beautiful white cathedral/church at the top of the hill. They have the most interesting painting on the dome. Sorry I couldn’t take a picture. {I went in twice, yep I’m one of those…it was free though!}
Afterwards we headed to the “shopping” district up there on the hill. If I don’t see another souvenir shop I might be a happy camper. There was some cute stuff, but most of it was the same ole stuff. We walked around the district up there looking at the tourist shops and restaurants. Trying to decide where to eat and still have enough money for meals the next few days. We went back down the hill and looked around. And then we climbed the hundreds of stairs again in search of cheaper more authentic food. I had my first Croque Mousier. Again Yum!
We headed down and found Moulin Rouge which wasn’t too far. Then we went back to our itsy bitsy apartment. The end of day 2 in the adventures of Paris saga…
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