Last full day in Europe
The first stop, as usual, was getting some breakfast; we got quite accustomed to French baking. Second stop- Notre Dame (for the third time). This time, we actually stuck around and waited in line for the tour, which was one of my goals for my second trip to Paris. It was also a lot cooler today so the wait wasn't a health risk.
After a wait in line Grace and I finally got the chance to climb the hundreds of stairs and go into the towers of Notre Dame. It was five euro to go in but worth it just to see the gargoyles. Each gargoyle was so expressive and grotesque that I could literally stand up there for hours looking at them. Grace also snapped a lot of great photos of them.
After taking in the views of Paris, we descended into the city. Grace and I strolled along the Seine, doing some poster and souvenir shopping along the way. We eventually ended up at the Hotel des Invalides, which is apparently one of the 1000 places I need to see before I die. The building was actually very beautiful, which is not surprising considering it is in Paris. The Hotel des Invalides was originally a military hospital which has since been turned into a military museum and houses Napoleon's tomb. Grace and I didn't visit either, however, to save time and money.
Hotel des Invalides
Military detail around windows
And then it hit us- there was one thing missing from the perfect Parisian experience, and that thing was shopping, so we set off for the Galeries Lafayette. At this point in my 4.5 month long trip, I was feeling a little strapped for cash, but Grace is always ready to blow some money so she bought a dress and some shoes. While we were in such a beautiful store, we also bought some cappuccinos to enjoy. It turned out to be a lovely French afternoon.
What a beautiful store!
Grace had still not visited the Louvre while in Paris so that was next on our whirlwind last day in Paris. We found out that tickets were cheaper after 5 so once we arrived at the Louvre we took our time before going in. It worked out well because not only was Grace's ticket cheaper (mine was free due to my "European residency") but it was also not crowded at all, therefore giving us the perfect atmosphere to explore some of art's greatest accomplishments.
First stop: Mona Lisa (there was no doubt of that)
Next stop: Liberty Leading the People
I told Grace that there was a painting that I saw the last time I was at the Louvre and wanted to go back and spend more time examining it. When we got to the room of French paintings, Grace said, "I know which one you like." She said that between the revolutionaries and the tricolour French flag streaming she knew that Liberty Leading the People was the one I liked. What can I say? As I mentioned before, I'm a sucker for a great revolution (although the French Revolution is only my second, possibly third, favorite).
Last stop: Cupid and Psyche and sculptures
Sculptures are my new favorite form of art after traveling to Italy. I think Grace really liked seeing all the sculptures as well and because there was "perfect light" Grace and I stayed in the sculpture hall so Grace could snap a couple photos. Gracie also found a sculpture called The Three Graces so she loved that.
Since it was getting late our next stop was dinner, a nice French dinner. We went back to Ile St. Louis because we saw a lot of nice French restaurants while we were there yesterday. We ended up stopping at a nice, small restaurant with an affordable three course menu. For our first course, Grace tried the onion soup again (not as good as the first) and I had escargot. I had eaten escargot a few times before, mostly when my family traveled to Montreal.
The French people sitting next to us were definitely mocking me in French for taking this picture.
Grace and I had duck and steak, which was decent. When it came to dessert, no one came around to give us it for a long time so we got concerned. Turns out that the somewhat creepy waiter wanted us to take our dessert in the special room downstairs. This is about when the red flag goes up that this could a bad situation. He lead us downstairs and it turned out that there was another seating area down there, so at least we were with other people. The waiter offered us drink on him and we told him that we didn't drink, so he offered us juice. Like we were going to drink anything he offered us.
When dessert came it was so good! It was a chocolate cake that was liquid on the inside and simply delicious. The waiter also insisted on taking pictures of us in this "special room," which was cool because it was likely hundreds of years old.
After dinner I told the waiter that we had to get going because our parents were going to meet us at the Arc du Triomphe. This, of course, was a lie but I didn't want anything to go awry.
I still wanted Grace to have a good look at the Arc du Triomphe but it was being cleaned or something because there was a tarp over parts of it. What a bummer, but I don't think Grace was that interested anyway.
We went back to our hostel and spent our last night in Europe. It's crazy how four months fly by!
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