MY TRIP TO FRANCE. Part Three: We Meet the Team

Tuesday, May 29, 2012    

Day Three

On the Metro in the afternoon.

Notice that McDonald's serves McBaguettes instead of hamburgers!

Well it took us a while to get going this morning.  We awoke early but because Rachel had to maintain contact with their flight crew, who were due to arrive this morning, we were required to stick around the room.  Nonetheless, we went to get some breakfast and experienced a wonderful omelet.  It was incredibly light, perfectly cooked and had cheese and ham.  It was served with a little salad and some French bread.

Waiting for the Tour Bus near the Ache du Triomphe.

The Arche from the top deck of our bus.

Now I am in the room waiting for Rachel and a couple of her crew members to return so we all can take a tour bus to see more of Paris.  It is 2:45pm so our day was not as productive as it was yesterday.  I do hope our tour is good, it only goes until 7:00.

A great view of the Eiffel Tower.

Rachel doesn't seem impressed.

Rachel and I are laughing at the last statement I made this morning, that I had hoped it would be productive.  The pace changed completely.  I met Rachel’s team members.  Aaron, Noah, John and his wife, Amy, came down and met us because they wanted to tour Paris on the bus with us.  After they ate “breakfast”, however, they decided to not go with us.  They had jetlag and were worried that if they sat in a bus all day long, they would fall asleep.  So they decided to do their exploring on foot.  We shook hands and left them in the dust!

I could never figure out those intersections!

So at about 3:15pm we hiked to the Metro station at Barbes Rochechouart and zipped over to the Arche de Triomphe.  It was as amazing as yesterday!  We got on the Red tour bus at about 5:15 and enjoyed the bird’s-eye-view and the rest to our feet. 

The dome under which Napoleon is buried.

The famous Le Invalides.

 We retraced our steps and soaked in more of the places we had walked to yesterday. We drove by the Invalids, the Conceirgerie, Notre Dame as well.  We took so many pictures and we got ourselves in some of them.

I'm not sure where we are at this point, but I love that long building.

Crossing Pont Neuf.   At the time, we didn't know what bridge we were on. 

 We got off the bus to eat and head home.  Not far, we discovered this tiny restaurant called Au Vieny Paris Auberge depuis.  There we saw two couples at the tables on the sidewalk, one eating a chicken dish.  Being the natural way with them, this couple asked us to snap their picture.  After that we were truly friends.  They are (almost) retired navy.  We ended up sitting next to them and we ordered what they ordered, “The Best in the House” declared Fredrico, our waiter. 

The beautiful and beloved Notre Dame Cathedral.

The exquisite stone carvings continue to amaze us.

Along the side of Notre Dame.

Now when we first sat down no one cared to take our order.  Fredrico had disappeared after his first contact with us.  I went in and said to the gentlemen who were eating and did not seem particularly happy to see me or that we were eating at their restaurant.  After the second time, Fredrico told me that it opened at 7:00 (in 10 minutes).  They had cooked for the couple but had not told them or us that we were early.  I apologized profusely. 

Our wonderful new friends, Byron and Teresa, from Colorado.

 The chicken dish was served: a fried chicken leg and thigh served with vegetables, fried potato coins and mashed potatoes with a pesto type of stuff added.  For dessert Rachel and I shared a crème broule.  To die for.  It was a matter of treating ourselves, for the cost was significant, yet well worth it!!

The "Best in the House" and we agreed indeed.

We conversed with Byron and Teresa through the entire meal.  At the end we were great friends, hugging our good-byes. But not before Fredrico invited us all to tour the room they have in their inn above the restuarant (they had several rooms but showed us the best).  It was wonderful, so old and stylish. 

The cook's cat.

The building was the home of a Notre Dame priest long ago.  Still there are many of the architectural features—visible beams, courtyards, stained-glass window, statue of a saint, rectors chair or papal chair, etc, of those days.  The stairs were classically steep, small and winding up to the room.  They were obviously original wood, laid up against mortar so as to be wood at the end of a brick stairwell.  I felt I was stepping onto history, stairs that a holy man had reverently climbed during another age. 

The stairs inside the home of the Priest of Notre Dame in the 16th century.

  

The livery door of the Priest's home, now the restuarant.

 Out in the courtyard, there was a cat that Rachel tried to entice to no avail. One of the cooks came to the door of the kitchen and looked into the courtyard at us and said proudly, “My cat!”  He strolled out toward Rachel to introduce the cat to her.  He sat there awhile with her and the cat clicking his fingers toward the cat then to Rachel.  The cat responded to the cook as if he were its father, yet regarded Rachel minimally.

I was curious about these boxes...

 ...until we got to the end one.  They are venders kiosks. This one sold old books, in French.

 After hugging our new friends and bidding them good-bye, we walked along, talking about our amazing day.  The sun was going down (it is still light at 10:00pm) as we headed to Pont Neuf. 

 Cobblestone streets.

 

Our last view before heading home, from Pont Neuf in the evening.

Pont Neuf is a location in one of the Bourne movies (favorites of mine).  I wanted to walk across it and so we approached and got all the way across before we realized we were not on Pont Neuf!  So we walked down to the next bridge and relived the wonder and excitement, this time on the right bridge.