Post by Shoesy on May 9, 2012 12:05:36 GMT -5
The forecasts had predicted cool, cloudy weather with rain 
, so it was no surprise that we weren't greeted by warm sunny weather when we arrived in Paris. However, nothing stopped us from doing our favorite activity…… walking. I never felt cold because my 2 coats (1 fleece and 1 slightly heavier one) were suitable, and our umbrellas always accompanied us. One thing about rain in Paris is that it's not constant, and as long as the wind isn't too strong, then walking around with an umbrella is O.K. There was only one time when the wind was too strong for our flimsy umbrellas, so we took shelter until the rain stopped. But that was only a matter of minutes…..on our first day.
Speaking of our first day, after having gotten settled in our room at the Britannique, we headed towards Notre Dame, which is always a must for us. Then, we visited the Memorial of Deportation, which is located behind N.D. Beautifully designed and quite moving. Glad we got to see it this time because we had made the attempt a couple of times in 2009, but it was never open.
In case, you haven't guessed, our next destination was the nearby Ile St. Louis, the home of Berthillon
. Needless to say, I'd been dreaming of my coffee ice-cream cone for a long long time. As we got nearer to B., I became really excited because there was no line……yay!!! ;D ;D ;D However, it didn't take long for me to figure out why……it was closed !!! 
I have no idea why, but there was a sign saying that it would re-open the following day. Oh no!!! 
Tant pis….. Amorino was just a few steps away, and Shlomo and I both really enjoyed our gelato cones. Coffee and salted butter caramel for me…….fantastic flavors ! 
At this point, you may be interested to know that we never did make it back to Berthillon. Who would have thought…… 
:DThe OPF GTG took place on the 2nd day of our visit. There were 9 others aside from us, and seeing and hugging everyone constituted very special moments for me. Shlomo, too, enjoyed meeting everyone, and he and Mossie chatted like old buddies reminiscing about the good old days. At one point, I couldn't help notice the sparkler on Phread's hand, and happy me ;D immediately became even happier ;D ;D, but dear Phread seemed to be the happiest of all. ;D ;D ;D
After saying our goodbyes 
, Shlomo and I headed to the Marais, where we wandered around for the rest of the afternoon. We concluded our visit to the Marais at the Cognac-Jay museum, which houses the most unbelievable exhibit of tiny decorative boxes…..golden, enameled and bejeweled. Incredibly beautiful !
Our 3rd day was going to be special because my sister and her husband were to arrive in Paris, and we were to meet at 7:00 P.M. sharp in the lobby of our hotel, where they, too, were to be guests. But before that, we had a long day of strolling in very familiar territory : along the Champs Elysees, to the Eiffel Tower, past the Invalides, across Pont Alexandre III. I can't imagine a trip to Paris without doing that route. Yes, my footsies were a bit sore, but that didn't stop me. Then in the evening, I finally got to see my sister !
On our 4th day, we, together with my sister and BIL, journeyed to Vaux Le Vicomte. After purchasing train tickets at Gare de Lyon, we had breakfast at Le Train Bleu. Little did we know that when you order scrambled eggs, you need to tell them to cook them really well because our eggs were very runny. Ate them anyway. I was glad that I finally had the opportunity to see this much talked about rest. As for our visit to the chateau, I had expected the inside of the building to be a lot less attractive than it was. The grounds were really impressive, and we explored them with a rented golf cart, which made it very easy and fun to cover all that territory in no time.
Our 5th day was finally sunny and much warmer……. so beautiful ! My BIL attended a business meeting so we spent the day with my sister. We visited the Garnier Opera House and Galeries Lafayette, and then did lots of strolling, enjoying everything in sight. I introduced my sister to macarons and tried to make a comparison between Laduree and Pierre Herme. Eventually, we found ourselves having a very relaxing lunch at Place Dauphine before returning to our hotel to rest up.
Our last day was May 1st. The weather was so lovely that it was easy to forget about the nastier days that we had experienced earlier in our trip.
After breakfast, Shlomo and I set out to visit the Lux. Gardens while my sister and her husband went on a walking tour of the Marais. People were selling muguets everywhere…….such a lovely sight! Lots of leisurely strolling, and I tried hard not to be sad that this was our last day.
At 1:00, we met Sandy for lunch at the very attractive café at Musee Jacquemart Andre. After our meal (a yummy quiche for me), we exchanged bisous , and then we saw my sister and her husband, who had arrived just in time for our 3:00 entrance to the museum. Knowing that this museum was one of the few places open on May 1st, we had purchased online tickets in order to avoid the lines.
Since no trip report is complete without mentioning restaurants , here is where we had our dinners, in chronological order. BTW, it was our pleasure to have Gitte join us for dinner on our 1st and 3rd evenings.
Relais de L'Entrecote
Fish (La Boisonnerie)
Relais de L'Isle
Le Petit Chatelet
Le Florimond
Our favorite restaurant without a doubt was Relais de L'Isle. Fabulous dishes, so beautifully presented. Shlomo's second fav. was Fish, but I think mine was Le Petit Chatelet.
Before parting for CDG, Shlomo promised that we would return to Paris one day, so I left my favorite city on an optimistic note. Besides, I already missed the twinnies and was looking forward to giving them the Paris T-shirts that I'd bought them.
And here are some photos:
Note how windy it was!
A long line at Laduree
Got my super-sized vanilla macaron!
Me and my parapluie
Together with my family
Breakfast at Le Train Bleu
At Vaux le Vicomte
On "our" bridge......the closest to our hotel
At the Garnier, Box # 5, reserved for the Phantom of the Opera ;D
Shlomo's dessert at Le Florimond
Me and my muguets
Street art near the Louvre
, so it was no surprise that we weren't greeted by warm sunny weather when we arrived in Paris. However, nothing stopped us from doing our favorite activity…… walking. I never felt cold because my 2 coats (1 fleece and 1 slightly heavier one) were suitable, and our umbrellas always accompanied us. One thing about rain in Paris is that it's not constant, and as long as the wind isn't too strong, then walking around with an umbrella is O.K. There was only one time when the wind was too strong for our flimsy umbrellas, so we took shelter until the rain stopped. But that was only a matter of minutes…..on our first day.Speaking of our first day, after having gotten settled in our room at the Britannique, we headed towards Notre Dame, which is always a must for us. Then, we visited the Memorial of Deportation, which is located behind N.D. Beautifully designed and quite moving. Glad we got to see it this time because we had made the attempt a couple of times in 2009, but it was never open.
In case, you haven't guessed, our next destination was the nearby Ile St. Louis, the home of Berthillon
. Needless to say, I'd been dreaming of my coffee ice-cream cone for a long long time. As we got nearer to B., I became really excited because there was no line……yay!!! ;D ;D ;D However, it didn't take long for me to figure out why……it was closed !!! 
I have no idea why, but there was a sign saying that it would re-open the following day. Oh no!!! 
Tant pis….. Amorino was just a few steps away, and Shlomo and I both really enjoyed our gelato cones. Coffee and salted butter caramel for me…….fantastic flavors ! 
At this point, you may be interested to know that we never did make it back to Berthillon. Who would have thought…… 
:DThe OPF GTG took place on the 2nd day of our visit. There were 9 others aside from us, and seeing and hugging everyone constituted very special moments for me. Shlomo, too, enjoyed meeting everyone, and he and Mossie chatted like old buddies reminiscing about the good old days. At one point, I couldn't help notice the sparkler on Phread's hand, and happy me ;D immediately became even happier ;D ;D, but dear Phread seemed to be the happiest of all. ;D ;D ;D
After saying our goodbyes
, Shlomo and I headed to the Marais, where we wandered around for the rest of the afternoon. We concluded our visit to the Marais at the Cognac-Jay museum, which houses the most unbelievable exhibit of tiny decorative boxes…..golden, enameled and bejeweled. Incredibly beautiful !
Our 3rd day was going to be special because my sister and her husband were to arrive in Paris, and we were to meet at 7:00 P.M. sharp in the lobby of our hotel, where they, too, were to be guests. But before that, we had a long day of strolling in very familiar territory : along the Champs Elysees, to the Eiffel Tower, past the Invalides, across Pont Alexandre III. I can't imagine a trip to Paris without doing that route. Yes, my footsies were a bit sore, but that didn't stop me. Then in the evening, I finally got to see my sister ! On our 4th day, we, together with my sister and BIL, journeyed to Vaux Le Vicomte. After purchasing train tickets at Gare de Lyon, we had breakfast at Le Train Bleu. Little did we know that when you order scrambled eggs, you need to tell them to cook them really well because our eggs were very runny.
Ate them anyway. I was glad that I finally had the opportunity to see this much talked about rest. As for our visit to the chateau, I had expected the inside of the building to be a lot less attractive than it was. The grounds were really impressive, and we explored them with a rented golf cart, which made it very easy and fun to cover all that territory in no time.Our 5th day was finally sunny and much warmer
……. so beautiful ! My BIL attended a business meeting so we spent the day with my sister. We visited the Garnier Opera House and Galeries Lafayette, and then did lots of strolling, enjoying everything in sight. I introduced my sister to macarons and tried to make a comparison between Laduree and Pierre Herme. Eventually, we found ourselves having a very relaxing lunch at Place Dauphine before returning to our hotel to rest up.Our last day was May 1st. The weather was so lovely that it was easy to forget about the nastier days that we had experienced earlier in our trip.
After breakfast, Shlomo and I set out to visit the Lux. Gardens while my sister and her husband went on a walking tour of the Marais. People were selling muguets everywhere…….such a lovely sight! Lots of leisurely strolling, and I tried hard not to be sad that this was our last day. At 1:00, we met Sandy
for lunch at the very attractive café at Musee Jacquemart Andre. After our meal (a yummy quiche for me), we exchanged bisous , and then we saw my sister and her husband, who had arrived just in time for our 3:00 entrance to the museum. Knowing that this museum was one of the few places open on May 1st, we had purchased online tickets in order to avoid the lines.Since no trip report is complete without mentioning restaurants , here is where we had our dinners, in chronological order. BTW, it was our pleasure to have Gitte
join us for dinner on our 1st and 3rd evenings. Relais de L'Entrecote
Fish (La Boisonnerie)
Relais de L'Isle
Le Petit Chatelet
Le Florimond
Our favorite restaurant without a doubt was Relais de L'Isle. Fabulous dishes, so beautifully presented. Shlomo's second fav. was Fish, but I think mine was Le Petit Chatelet.
Before parting for CDG, Shlomo promised that we would return to Paris one day, so I left my favorite city on an optimistic note.
Besides, I already missed the twinnies and was looking forward to giving them the Paris T-shirts that I'd bought them. And here are some photos:
Note how windy it was!
A long line at Laduree
Got my super-sized vanilla macaron!
Me and my parapluie
Together with my family
Breakfast at Le Train Bleu
At Vaux le Vicomte
On "our" bridge......the closest to our hotel
At the Garnier, Box # 5, reserved for the Phantom of the Opera ;D
Shlomo's dessert at Le Florimond
Me and my muguets
Street art near the Louvre
I think the only reason he ordered that dessert was out of curiosity. Believe it or not, at home he rarely eats sweets. 
hahahha