Paris - Part Two?

It has been pointed out to me that our report on our Christmas in Paris still lacks it's counterpart. Why bother, you may ask? You've got me, but finish it I will. I don't recall everything in detail as it happened more than three minutes ago, but there are still a few things we did that were a bit of fun.

Where did we leave off... yes, Christmas day. Although we were expecting everything to be shut down, there was still enough open to go out for the day and have recourse to food and warmth. We walked through a giant park (Jardin du Luxembourg)that was supposed to be spectacular, but, much like the Eiffel Tower's grounds, was mostly gravel, and much like most other forms of life in winter, was mostly dead. It had a really nice palace in the middle of it though, and seriously, in summer, would have been lovely. It also provided the natural habitat for old French men to gathered around an enthralling chess match.



We wandered in the direction of the Pantheon to have a little gander at it, which was indeed closed. We shivered our way around the outside of it for a bit and moved on in search of more warm food. We hadn't explored the Ile St-Louis as of yet, so that was where we hopped to find it.



And what better to find than more crepes? You know it. Crepes it was, and this time Myra got real chocolate rather than Nutella on hers. Nice.

The battery ran out on my camera and I forgot the spare at the hotel, so we missed some good shots, but it was too cold to care that much. We crossed back over to the Ile de la Cite to try and see Ste-Chapelle, which was also closed, so we gave in to our primal need to have blood flowing through our extremities and headed to the hotel for a quick warm shower before dinner.



We passed the Jardin du Luxembourg again on our way to get our first bit of sushi in months, and had a nice Christmas dinner of miso, gyoza and maki. Done and done.

Day two was only a morning affair, as we flew back in the afternoon. We took the Metro out to the Arc de Triomphe, had a good view of the Eiffel Tower from the bridge over the Seine, and emerged on Avenue des Champs Elysees, with about a million other tourists. Needles to say, that chased us off, and into a lovely little Italian restaurant for some good, home cooked pasta. Our stomachs full (quite), we said good-bye to Paris and made our way back to Charles de Gaulle, feeling quite like worldly travelers, having conquered a giant 1 hour flight into continental Europe. Paris was great fun, and we plan on seeing it again in full bloom whenever we have the chance, which at the moment, seems pretty far off. I wager that Prague is next.