Pareeee (Paris)

Paris

Remember how we told you that we spent 10 hours walking around Versailles, day 1 Paris? Well, we were pretty tired after that night and ended up sleeping in the following day till midday. After getting up rather slowly and eating crepes prepared by our host (MMMMM) we followed another stereotype and went to the boulangerie (bakery) for baguettes, quiches and pastries.

After coming back home, eating said baguettes and lounging around some more, we decided to venture out.

Out we went, armed with a guide, lots of cameras and some questionable energy. We walked a trail that normally takes 40 minutes at a slow pace however, on account of the cameras we took almost 3 hours.

We saw (in no particular order)

• The Eiffel Tower
• The Champ de Mars
• The Paris military school
• Invalides (where Bonny Napoleon is buried)
• Musee d’Orsay (Newer art)
• The Louvre (really old art and the Mona Lisa)
• An obelisk “gifted” to Napoleon during his invasion of Egypt
• The Arc de Triumph
• The Grand Palais
• Pont Neuf
• Some other bridge whose name escapes me
• Hotel d’ville ( Paris town hall)
• Notre Dame

I can’t describe each of these in detail because it would take too long but all of these are within a 5km radius. Does that give you an idea of just how beautiful Paris is? They are also ornate, carved from stone (generally speaking, thought the Eiffel tower is a notable exception), and generally pretty spectacular to look at.

After this surprisingly relaxing walk we headed into the Latin quarter of Paris. Not called Latin because of its population but because it was once the home of all the Paris universities where Latin was studied.

The Latin Quarter is a vibrant tourist mecca. It is filled with dozens of restaurants that all serve fabulous 3 course set menus and cuisine from traditional French to Moroccan to Greek and even Italian.

For about 15 Euro you can eat in style.

Here’s what I had

• Onion Soup
• Roast Pork with a Bernaise sauce
• Crème Brulee

Nuwan had

• Mussels in white wine sauce
• Beef Bourgonion
• Crème Brulee

For the 30 bucks, it doesn’t get much better than that.