april in paris: day six

Started the day as we might on a Sunday back home, except with a French twist. Boyar made French "special" for our Sunday breakfast. The frozen potatoes had potatoes, onions, sausage and bacon, and the potatoes tasted sweeter are more glutinous. Yum. And, of course, a baguette and more of the super-intense camembert. Started the morning with some Milesisms, like, "If I see one more seventeenth century painting, I'm going to melt" and "I'm Louvred-out" and "Louvreinitis: an excessive amount of pre-19th century art ... or something like that." We told Miles that he was in luck, because we were using the last day of our Paris Museum Pass to go to ... the Pompidou! Modern Art! Made our way to the industrial-looking Pompidou and took in the view from the upper floor. It was another day of good weather, although a bit chillier than previous days. We all had a great time taking in the modern art, with some of the highlights being from Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, Rothko, Pollock, Calder ... and more. I will have to look at our photos to remember the rest. After we made our way through most of the upper floor, we walked across the large concrete plaza to Amorino Gelato -- which was quite delicious. Had to use the "my son is allergic" note, which was very helpful, since the clerk realized why I was frantically waving for her to stop giving my son the Nutella gelato. I'm glad Miles was being alert then! After that, we strolled towards the Bastille, passing through Le Marais. There were a plethora of boutiques and shops, some of which were closed, but it was fun to gaze in the windows, anyway. The streets were busy with twenty-somethings, looking hip and stylish. The vibe was like a sunny Sunday in the Castro. We noticed a few restaurants with take-out windows and long lines in the Jewish quarter, and it turns out these were all Greek places -- the lines were for falafel and gyros. We passed on the Greek faire and kept walking, with me stopping in a few shops as we went along. I wish I could remember the name of the French "Anthropologie"/"Gap" store, which had a home store, as well. We stopped at the cacao + chocolat store where I exercised some serious self-restraint and did NOT order a mocha in a take-away cup. The store was vibrantly decorated in lime green and brown, with pretty chocolates all around. We had seen another one of these stores on the Ile St Louis, I think. We stepped into a medieval building/landmark courtyard, took some photos, then emerged onto the little street where a five-piece band with a little four year old dancing around for money was doing their best to work the tourists. A large crowd had gathered, and it was good entertainment for a few minutes. After that, we moved onward and eventually made it to the Bastille obelisk-type monument.

At that point, we decided to make full use of our museum pass and hopped on the Metro back to Saint Chappelle. We came out of the famous Metro station in the plaza facing the supreme court/st. chappelle building, then got in the short line for security to get into the chapel. The stained glass was beautiful, but it was not very sunny outside since it was late, so we marveled a bit, then really ooohed and aaaahed when the sun broke for a few moments. We then dashed over to the Notre Dame, where we were nearly the last ones to get in to climb the stairs. It was a challenging climb, but we made it. We saw an older Japanese woman resting on the side of the stairwell, and I told her, "Gambatte!" and she and her friends pulled themselves together and made it to the top. They were really close, so I'm glad they forged ahead. We went all the way up, even up to the bell tower. We talked about the Hunchback of Notre Dame and looked at the gargoyles from close-up, and the Parisian skyline from our rooftop vantage point. It was pretty incredible. And cold, but that was okay. Very windy. Made our way down as they were closing it down, and the descent was much easier than the ascent. We all tried to count the stairs, and we all came out with different counts. It was somewhere close to 300, I think. After that, we went along the touristy stores nearby and thought about how hungry we were. Tried to decide on a place to eat ... perused the guidebook and tried for a place on Ile St Louis, which was full up, but recommended another place down the street. Headed over to this little restaurant down the block and we were seated in the faux-medieval basement, which was pretty cool. We gobbled up the little slices of salami that were sitting on the table, then ordered. We had a couple starters: escargot and duck leg risotto, smoked duck terrine, and of course, some good bread. For our main course, I ordered the filet of beef, which was excellent. I think it was served with a tiny bit of potatoes. I know Miles also had the beef, but I can't remember what Boyar and Mika had. I do know that Boyar had the prix fixe menu, so he had a dessert (chocolate cake) which we all shared.

We figured out how to get home and eventually found the Metro. Made our way back and collapsed into our beds. Just another day in Paris!