Versailles (Day 8)

I was extremely sleepy when we got up this morning. We woke up to get ready around 7am because our Cityrama bus was scheduled to pick us up at 8:30am to take us to Versailles.

We were on time, but of course the bus didn't come until close to 9am. We had a few more stops before heading off to the palace. The drive took about 45 minutes. We approached Versailles around 10:30am and from a distance, the palace was magnificent.


The Palace at Versailles

Built in the late 17th century by Louis XIV, Versailles is said to have over 2000 rooms. It served as the palace for three kings. Most of the walls were made of marble and covered in velvet and numerous paintings. Entire canvas paintings covered the ceilings of nearly all the rooms. The molding and room accents were gilded in gold.

None of the original furniture remained but similar pieces from that period were in place. Unfortunately, the Hall of Mirrors was undergoing a restoration. A portion of it was still visible. From the Hall, we also had an incredible view of the palace gardens. We actually came back in later after leaving just to take pictures from here.


View of the Gardens from the Hall

The tour was a lot quicker than we thought it would be. There were so many tourists and groups going through at the same time. We even overheard Thai tourists in a group of 20 just like ours.

We visited the customary souvenir shops and bought a little musketeer figure. Entrance into the gardens was 3 euros, but we only had 30 minutes of free time and before we had to head back to the bus. Le Petit Train looked like fun, but it was a 40 minute tour. After a few more snapshots in the garden near the entrance, we headed back to the bus anyway.

We didn't have breakfast or lunch yet, and I was already exhausted. We decided to walk towards the Cacao et Chocolat place at the Ile St. Louis. Of course, there were many stops along the way.

Zara, a place slightly past the Notre Dame, was our first major stop after all the little tourist traps. Each Zara we visit seems to carry different clothing. So naturally, Ivy and I spent about 45 minutes here.

I was starving so we stopped at Les Bateleurs on the Rue du Pont Neuf for Italian food. Ivy had a salad and I ordered spaghetti bolognese. It was okay. I finished it off with a basket of bread. That knocked me out.

We strolled along the Seine and sat on a bench for a little while. I put on my shades and fell asleep for about ten minutes. I'm not sure what Ivy did. I think she sat there staring at my mouth wide open wondering if I was really asleep.

I felt much better once I awoke and decided to take some pictures with the digicam. Three tries later, we finally took a decent photo.


Along the Seine

When we finally made it to the Ile St. Louis, I couldn't resist a boule of orange sanguine from Berthillon. Mmm. We then stopped at Cacao et Chocolat to order a large cup of the cold chocolate. So incredibly rich. We bought 3 bottles, er cartons, of the liquid chocolate and had one wrapped for Edna and Felix. The guy was really nice. He gave us a sample of this dark chocolate with chili. It was good, but I don't think I would buy it. Maybe it was because I was still recovering from the quiche, cheese, brulees, and French baguettes I've had these past few days.

We were heading towards the Foie Gras place when we decided to stop at a wine store to pick up a couple bottles of wine. I got Stafford a bottle of burgundy and I a bordeaux for myself. I'm not positive if the wine was great, but the owner said that the bordeaux was excellent, especially since I planned on drinking it a few years from now. The burgundy was good too and would be good within a year. Wine is normally cheap in France, but for the price of these two wines, that alone was enough to convince me that these were distinguished wines.

We walked by the Foie Gras place and waved to the owner. I think he recognized us. Oh well.

It was finally time to head back. I took a nap at the hotel and Ivy went to the Zara by the Galleries Lafayette to return some stuff she just bought. I think she went to the Galleries Lafayette too. Hmm.

She came back around 8:30pm and we decided to head out to dinner. At Thierry's suggestion, we ate at Au Petit Riche. This place was right around the corner from the hotel.


Dinner at Au Petit Riche 

Again, we had a set menu. Salad with ham, steak, and sorbet for moi. Ivy had the gazpacho, mackerel, and sorbet. The food was good. The sorbet was awesome. I think this was the first day I've gone without a glass of wine. Although we did have champagne for dinner.

My string of creme brulee was also broken today.

Nice Bathrooms (Day 7)

We slept in again today and spent a good part of the afternoon shopping at H&M and Zara.

Brioche Doree has been good so far, so we went to the one behind the Galleries Lafayette again for another ham and cheese baguette. Ivy had an "Indien" sandwich and actually liked it.

It was almost 4pm and we wanted to book our trip to Versailles before it was too late. So we headed back to the hotel and checked in with Thierry, our concierge, a super nice guy. We decided to do the Versailles trip, sans Giverny, since it was suppose to rain in the afternoon.

After a brief rest and feet cleaning (I had slippers on), we left for Angelina Tea Salon on the Rue de Rivoli near the Louvre. This place is known for its rich hot chocolate. We ordered the "Chocolate Africain" and it was gooood.


Angelina Tea Salon 

I also had a slice of quiche lorraine. It looks like time stood still here. The parlor was decorated like an old ladies tea salon, just as Dan said. We bought some snacks and gifts of chocolate there too. The lady was really nice.

Down the street from Angelina was the Hotel Meurice. This was one of the most opulent hotels in Paris. Owned by the Sultan of Brunei, the hotel was lavishly decorated with fancy furniture, marble, and gold trim.

Something you must do...Ivy and I checked out the bathrooms in the lobby (thanks again Dan). I was amazed from the moment I walked in. Everything was covered in gray marble. The stalls were little rooms with cherry wood doors and square porcelain toilets.


Check out that Stall!

Neatly folded hand towels were stacked at the sink connected to a rod leading into a trash bin. Pretty clever.


Nice Hand Towels

We walked back from Hotel Meurice to hour hotel and scoped out some Japanese restaurants for dinner. After a light nap, we decided to have a sushi dinner at Edokko. It was actually good and so much better than Matsuri.

Craving dessert, we walked across the street to La Taverne again for our favorite creme brulee in the city. Ivy had a coffee and I an espresso to compliment our fine creme brulee. heh heh. Some English guy name Andy began chatting it up with us after overhearing our conversation in english.

We made this an early night and retired to the hotel around 11:30pm.

Tour Eiffel (Day 6)

We finally got up and left the hotel around noon, but only because we had a lunch reservation at the Jules Verne restaurant on the Eiffel Tower for 12:30pm.

The taxi got us there in no time so we decided to roam a bit. Fifteen minutes later, we waited at the base of the tower at the Jules Verne pillar for the doors to open to the elevator.

Jules Verne is the higher restaurant (there are two) on the tower. It was booked for dinner, but still available for lunch. The view during the day was spectacular.

Most, if not all, restaurants in Paris seem to have set menus. As nice as the restaurant was, Jules Verne was no different. Given the occassion and because we didn't fully understand what was being served on the set menu, we decided to order a la carte.

The waiter brought out a salmon pate before anything else was served. It was actually okay with some bread. I don't think Ivy liked it much. I wouldn't normally have eaten it either.

I decided to order prawns in some sort of creme sauce as an appetizer. That was so good. Ivy had a sea bass and I had a veal sirloin something with stuffed chicken wings for our main course. The veal was okay, much better with my bordeaux wine.

The waiter brought out an assortment of little tarts, truffles, cookies and treats before serving creme brulee for dessert. Mmm...the tart and truffles were really good.

Overall the food was good, nothing exceptional, but the service was unbelievable. It seemed like the waiters had esp and anticipated our every move. Our glasses were filled with either wine or water after every sip and we were given new dishes and silverware for the appetizer, meal, and dessert.


Lunch at Jules Verne 

Per person I have to say that was the most expensive meal I have ever had. The total came out to 230 euros, which was about $300 at the time.

After lunch, we stopped to buy a bottle of Evian at a mini market along the Ave de Suffren before visiting the Musee de Orsay. The huge 1.5ml bottle was only .65 euros. Not bad considering how expensive everything else here is.

Orsay was definitely a lot easier to navigate than the Louvre. We got in at the student rate since the lady decided that we were under 25.

The first thing you notice upon entering the museum is how modernly beautiful the interior is. There's a huge clock on the entrance wall and the air condition was a nice relief from the hot weather.

The highlight of the museum was definitely Van Gogh. There were quite a few of his works including "The Siesta", and his self portraits. The Monets, Manets, and Seurat "the dot" were also amazing to see.

We avoided taking a taxi and decided to try the bus from the museum to Ile Saint-Louis. This area that looks exactly like what you would imagine Paris to be. The streets were narrow filled with charming little shops.

Our first stop was Berthillon of course.


Berthillon Sorbet 

I had a vanille and cafe 2 boules (scoop) sorbet to start our walk down the Ile. We stopped at Cacao et Chocolat, a gourmet chocolate heaven. We ordered a large cold chocolate drink (thank you for the suggestion Dan) and it was incredible. A couple of shops down is L'Epiciere, a spice store and further down we stepped into Foie Gras.


Foie Gras at the Ile. St. Louis 

We were given a sample of duck foie gras over a slice of bread followed by a glass of champagne. It was so good that we brought back two jars of the stuff.

From the Ile St.-Louis tortured our feet my walking to the Rue de Bastille. We wanted to have dinner at Le Petit Bofinger, a restaurant that was recommended in the LA times. Of all the places we've eaten at, Petit Bofinger ended up being our favorite.

We ordered from the set menu. Ivy had the escargot and I had the potato wrapped with bacon to start. For our main dish, Ivy ordered 3 fish with sauerkraut and I had a medium rare steak. For dessert, we each had a scoop of lemon sorbet in a cup of fruit. This was by far the best meal we've had in Paris.

The weather was hot and humid, so we decided to try taking the subway home. Quick and cheap, we made it back around 10:30pm.

Museums and Monuments (Day 5)

Baguette from the food court at Galleries Lafayette

Picasso museum

Louvre museum


Inside the Louvre 

Musee d' Orsay was closed on Monday

Another baguette from Brioche Doree

Trocadero

Dinner at Le Beaupre near the Tower

Tour Eiffel (Tower)

Seine river cruise

Back to the Eiffel for pics of the tower at night - lit up around midnight

Sacre Cour (Day 4)

Breakfast at the hotel

Rode the L'Open Tour to Sacre Cour.
-sunburn
-four different routes

Sacre Cour


Sacre Cour 

Ron Sard for lunch at Sacre Cour
- quiche and bordeaux wine (probably the worst wine yet)
- Ivy had the croc monseur


Lunch at Ron Sard 



Portrait at Sacre Cour

Le Cardinal for dinner
- x2 wine
- steak
- tartar

Our First Baguette (Day 2)

We got up around 11am, but didn't leave the room until close to 1pm. My suitcase didn't make the trip, so we decided to buy a shirt and a hat in lieu of hairspray and gel. At least Ivy's luggage made it, so it wasn't too bad.

After shopping for an hour or so at the Galleries Lafayette, we stopped for our first jambon (ham) and cheese baguette at the Brioche Doree. It tasted better than I imagined, probably because we were having it in France.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for a nutella and banana crepe from one of the street vendors. As full as we were, the crepe was so good and we finished every last bite. We took a not so short nap before roaming again around 7:45pm.

At Dan Chew's suggestion (thank you Dan!), we decide down the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triumph to a have dinner at Leon de Bruxelles. We each had a pot of the boiled moules (mussels). I ordered it in creme sauce and Ivy had hers in a white wine sauce. We both shared a bottle of reisling.


Moules at Leon de Bruxelles 

The food was great - a huge serving of clams (at least 30 each), tasty food, and not too expensive (for Paris at least). Again, I had a creme brulee for desert and Ivy had a waffle coated with powdered sugar.

We continued our stroll along the Champs-Elysees after dinner and took some pictures at the Arc before heading back. It was almost 1am and the walk was so much longer than we had anticipated. By the time we made it back to the hotel, our feet were in serious pain.

Honeymoon in Paris

After ten hours on Delta/Air France, we finally made it to Paris in the late afternoon. Ivy and I waited at the airport for about an hour before learning that our bag didn't make the flight. Due to some hold up, it was suppose to come tomorrow.


The Bag That Never Comes 

We made it to the Hotel Ambassador around 3pm and dropped our stuff off. We decided to stroll the city.

Our very first stop - The Galleries Lafayette, a shopping mall, of course. The place was huge and very nice. It sort of reminded me of the San Francisco shopping center on Market Street, but much larger, cleaner, and definitely with more character.

We roamed for most of the evening before deciding to eat at La Taverne for dinner. From the set "Boulevard" menu, I ordered the quiche, steak, and creme brulee. Ivy had the mozzarella salad, duck in raspberry sauce, and creme brulee as well. Each of us both had a small bottle of Bordeaux. C'etait delicieux!


Dinner at La Taverne 

Harry Potter was playing down the street and we decided to catch the 9:15pm showing - in English with French subtitles. The line wasn't too bad. Ivy slept through most of the beginning though.


The Cinema 

It was close to 3am before we finally made it to bed.