July 2, 2015 (Thursday) – After a day of exploring Bastille, Le Marais, and the Canal Saint-Martin, we made our way back to the shopping centre of town in and around Opéra. We ended up making our way down one of the boulevards radiating from Place de l’Opéra and found ourselves at Le Grand Café Capucines.
Continue reading “Our last dinner in Paris – Le Grand Café Capucines”
July 2, 2015 (Thursday) – I had no idea what or where the Place de la Republique was before I visited Paris. My only exposure to the name was through a beautiful and melancholic French song that is named after this iconic square. Beatrice Martin, or Coeur de Pirate, is the one who got me interested in this square at the crossroads of the 3rd, 10th, and 11th Arrondissements.
Continue reading “Place de la Republique and the Canal Saint-Martin”
July 2, 2016 (Thursday) – One of my personal interests in Paris was to explore the covered shopping galeries, or passages couverts, of Paris. Because we had a lot of other things planned for our one week trip, I ended up seeing only one of these famed galeries. If I ever go back, then exploring more of these galeries would definitely be on my list.
July 2, 2015 (Thursday) – After walking the streets of Le Marais, we aimed our smartphone maps in search of a golden snail. This golden snail perches proudly upon the sign of a restaurant on the edge of the 1st Arrondissement. This is L’Escargot Montorgueil.
Continue reading “The Golden Snail of L’Escargot Montorgueil”
July 2, 2015 (Thursday) – This Thursday was our last full day in Paris. There were no planned visits to monuments or sights today. Today was foot-based exploration starting with a weekly market at Bastille.
Bastille is most famous for it giant copper monument in the middle of a roundabout. It’s the site of the old prison in French Revolution times. Today, though, we were visiting the Marché Bastille set up here on Thursdays and Sundays.
Continue reading “Marché Bastille, Places des Vosges and Le Marais”
July 1, 2015 (Wednesday) – After our day at the Chateau de Versailles, we headed back to the RER train station to grab a train back into Paris. We were looking forward to doing some extra stuff when we got back into Paris. However, things did not go smoothly for the end of this hottest day of the year so far.
July 1, 2015 (Wednesday) – After exploring the Chateau, we ventured out into the gardens at Versailles. The fountain was unfortunately not running that day, but the gold-gilded statues surrounded by golden frogs was an impressive sight on its own.
Being a scorcher of a day, we decided to not walk the gardens. We didn’t have time to walk the whole grounds. So we decided to splurge on renting a golf cart to get us around. On a day where temperatures reached 38C, we were more than willing to pay in order not to sweat buckets. And trust me, we were still sweating buckets without all the walking.
July 1, 2015 (Wednesday) – This past Canada Day was spent in Paris. More specifically, we headed out to the famed Chateau de Versailles just outside of Paris. We got up early in the morning and grabbed a quick breakfast at the nearby Atelier Jules. Then we were off on the Metro and then onto a RER train to head out of town. It was already very warm and it would be sweltering record temperatures for the rest of the day.
June 28, 2015 (Tuesday) – We managed to pack a lot in this day. Morning at the Musee d’Orsay. A quick visit to the Rodin Museum. Paid our respects to Napoleon Bonaparte. Walked through the history of French military. Grabbed gelato on Rue Cler. We were now making our way to the Champs de Mars and the Eiffel Tower.
If you haven’t figured out by now, Paris is a walking city. We walked everywhere. After visiting the Musee D’Orsay, the Musee Rodin, and Les Invalides, we continued to walk towards the Eiffel Tower. We were really ahead of schedule and made sure our route to the Parisian landmark would take us through Rue Cler.
I had read about Rue Cler in a Rick Steeves travel book. Mr. European travel guru, Rick Steeves, highly recommended spending time along Rue Cler for several reasons. Rue Cler is home to a compact collection of local epiceries, fromageries, boulangeries, and more. It is a cleaned up microcosm of every aspect of French daily living.
metro babel 