EUROPE DAY 31: MORE PARIS AND THEN RACLETTE

We got a rousing start today--emerged from our hotel room at 11:00 AM and walked across the street to "our" petite dejeuner cafe. We must have tipped the waiter well yesterday because he remembered us and what we ordered. So we had the same thing all over again. Why mess with a good thing?

Our first destination was Notre Dame but the line to get in was a hundred miles long (in the hot sun, I might add) so we walked all around it and resolved to get up early tomorrow and go in before the thundering hoards show up. Then we got back onto a hop-on-hop-off bus and rode around the last two loops. We have now seen all the major areas, the famous sites and buildings and churches, and gotten a bit of a feel for Paris. 

Of course we had to hop off to do a bit of shopping at a major epicurean foodie store, Fauchon, at the Place de la Madeleine. My, the array of items they have, both sweet and savory. And my oh my, the prices they charge. The savory dishes at their deli and the chocolates and pastries were exquisite works of art--I don't think I've ever seen food that gorgeous. I just wanted to lick everything! And wouldn't you know, we didn't have time to sit down and try even one pastry. We are trying to figure out how to squeeze in a lunch tomorrow. 

Tiredness and input overload set in so we went back to the hotel. After an hour of resting up, we were back out on the street by 8:00 PM, ready for dinner--a shared salad of fresh orange, grapefruit, avocado, and tomato slices over lettuce with a yogurt dressing and then raclette over boiled potatoes with a charcuterie plate to go with. We ended with adequate but slightly disappointing servings of apple tartine and chocolate mousse. And of course it is Europe, so we were treated to a very good sidewalk trumpet concert during out meal, not to mention the people watching. It was 11:00 PM by the time we were finished -- we have gone native indeed. We are definitely having more fun here than I expected.