Yesterday (Monday) our plan was to go to the Louvre. But when we got there the line just to buy tickets was about a 3 hour line. So, we decided that we would buy our tickets online and go on Wednesday morning early, right when they open.
We started the day with breakfast at home. We had crossaints filled with chocolate and coffee. Then we got ready and walked to the train station. We had to switch trains/subways 3 times and it took us about 20-30 minutes to get to our stop. At one point we had to get off our train and run through the station for the subway.
We got off the train at the Concorde stop. We walked through a beautiful park on our way to the Louvre.
Concorde Memorial, and that's a police officer on the moped.
That's the Eiffel Tower off in the distance.
The park we walked through- Les Tuileries
The Louvre:
Outside of the Louvre the French Army was walking around. They walked around with machine guns on their chests. Audrey said it's kind of rare that you get to see them.
After we realized we wouldn't be able to go to the Louvre we stopped and had lunch in the park. We all had sandwiches- Kevin and I had it on baguette and Audrey had a sandwich with ham and cheese melted on the top.
Next we began walking up to the Arc de Triopmhe. The avenue we walked up is considered the most beautiful avenue in the world, it is called Champs élysées. It is where all the shopping is- Louis Vuitton, Tiffany's, Gucci, etc.
I have never had a macaroon and they are Audrey's favorite so we stopped in a shop that is very classy and expensive. It's about €2 (2 Euros) for 1 macaroon. Probably equates to about $3.25 for 1.
We got a box of 8 for around €16. I got Raspberry and Lemon, Kevin got Iced Mint and Salted Caramel. Audrey got Strawberry Candy, Chocolate, and another type of chocolate. Then Kevin and I got strawberry candy to split. The macaroon shop is called Laduree (I can't break down how to pronounce it because we just don't have the sounds in our language to express how you say it, but it kind of sounds like lingerie). If you know the show Gossip Girl (it's about rich kids) Blair Waldorf always buys her macaroons from Laduree.
There was a line just to get inside the shop to wait in line to get macaroons. However, it was worth the wait!! I was expecting crunchy cookies because that's why they look like, but they aren't crunchy. They reminded me off Snack Wells Devils Food Cake cookies. That texture- but the taste was out of this world! The shop was beautiful and it was a very cool experience. We sat down outside and ate all of them :)
After macaroons we continued on our walk to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc was built for the unknown soldiers that died in World War I and other wars as well.
Next we walked to a mobile phone store because Audrey's phone had broken so she needed to get it fixed so while we waited for her phone Kevin had a beer and I had a glass of wine. It gave me time to catch up on my blogging! :)
We walked back to the Arc de Triomphe and down underneath the roundabout to see it up close. The roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe is the most dangerous intersection in all of France. There are not lanes you just kind of go for it and at points there will be 8-10 cars all beside each other weaving around each other to get where they need to go. We will be going to the top of it for the view possibly today. We were able to watch a parade with the French Army and Veterans carrying the French Flag honoring the unknown soldiers. It happens everyday at 6:00pm.
Audrey's father got done with work around 6:30pm and picked us up and we headed to the grocery store so they could pick things out to make us for dinner.
The driving in Paris is pretty crazy:
Before dinner they had us try foie gras, it is basically liver they said. But you would never call it pâté- that would be a crime. It comes in a smaller jar about the size of a silver dollar and he cut it into fourths and you put it on bread. It's something very special to them because that small jar is very expensive. They only have it at Christmas time. I didn't get a picture of it unfortunately, but it looks like canned cat food.
We had tomatoes with Mozerella, Feta, and olive oil.
Then we had pasta with crème fraîche and bacon. Before we could eat the pasta her dad took an egg and separated the yolk and placed it in the center for presentation. Then you take the yolk and pour it over your pasta and stir it around. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't like it, but it was surprisingly delicious!!!
And we had wine, cheese, and bread after dinner of course
After dinner we went over to Didier's friend's house for coffee. They have been friends since they were 12. They were so nice and welcoming. They kissed us on the cheeks- that's custom here to say hello and goodbye. And the wife did not speak any English, but she is fluent in Spanish and in French. She is an artist so she walked me around the house showing me her art... With Audrey translating for us of course. They had 2 kids a daughter and son. Both around my age. They spoke English quite well. Didier's friend is a police officer here that drives the ministers (politicians) around. He showed Kevin his police ID and Badge and told him to keep his badge. We could not take pictures of the ID, only the badge.
I was nervous for Paris and France in general because everyone says how much French hate Americans and they find us a bother in restaurants and everywhere in general. Audrey had told us that was not true but to see for ourselves how untrue that rumor is has been really refreshing. Everyone at restaurants has spoken English with us and been patient when we speak French horribly- they even praise us and tell us it's good. Didier's friends were so lovely and hospitable. Didier and Audrey have enjoyed having our company and sharing their culture with us as well as asking about ours. Also, we were told that pick pocketing was horrible in Paris. Kevin and I both felt like there were just going to be gangs of pick pocketers everywhere and that we couldn't take a step without worrying. That is not true as well. Yes it could happen- exactly like NYC. However we have been paying attention everywhere we go and I haven't seen anything suspicious. Audrey spends her time in Paris often and says it's not something you should worry about. There are certain times when we were in dense crowds and she said if it were going to happen it would be now so just pay a little better attention but the fear we had was irrational.
Today the plan is Notre Dame (No-trey Dah-mmm) that's the best I can break it down. And there is a bookstore Audrey loves right near Notre Dame that she wants to take us to. We will possibly go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe today and I am not sure what else Audrey has planned! Hopefully I can get the blog done today instead of tomorrow morning like I have been doing. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment