Day 6: Today was our last full day in Paris, and we had decided to take it relatively easy. We got up late, and headed back out to Notre Dame one last time to finally see the Crypt (it had an interesting display of the history of the structure). By the time we were done with that, we decided to head back over to the Orsay to finally try the restaurant. We made it there before the rush, and I am glad we tried it. It was reasonably priced, and I found the food to be good. We each had the plat du jour, which was fish (cod, if I remember right) over fettucine. For dessert, Hubby had the best ice cream I have ever tasted (and that includes all the gelato I ate in Italy), and I had a “Floating Fountain.” I’m not quite sure what a “Floating Fountain” is, but it tasted like a big, toasted marshmallow in a caramel sauce. That was good too.
After lunch, we went to the Orangerie to see Monet’s lilies. In my opinion, if you like Monet/Impressionism, this is a must see. The paintings were breathtaking. I had originally had the Orangerie on the list of sites we’d see if there was time, and I am really glad we ended up going. That man was just a genius. I can’t believe he painted so many pieces of that size. Amazing.
When we were finished at the Orangerie, we had one last thing on our Paris itinerary: toys. We make our way to the nearest metro and headed in the direction of Toy Centre. I wished we hadn’t done that. It ended up being a waste of perfectly decent metro tickets. Toy Centre was on a little side street, probably technically in the 2nd arr., but I think was really closer to the 10th arr. than the 2nd arr. When we finally found Toy Centre, we realized it was really more like Toy Closet. It was a tiny, tiny space, filled with cheap plastic trinkets. Hubby took one look and said, “Uh, no.” So we turned around and headed toward Les Halles.
And there Hubby found his own little piece of Parisian heaven. Not only were there two or three stores that had many collectible cars, there was also…dum da dum dum…Maison du Lego. Yep, a whole store filled with nothing but Lego sets. But somehow, by some act of God, Hubby didn’t see anything he wanted at Maison du Lego. Oh Happy Day! The only set he found unique to Paris was the Eiffel Tower set, and he wasn’t interested in paying 210 Euros for it. We did, however, spend about an hour wandering back and forth between two other shops so Hubby could decide on which car collectibles he wanted. After that, we headed back to the apartment one last time to pack/clean up in preparation for tomorrow’s (very early) Easyjet flight.
We loved our time in Paris. We had, of course, been forewarned of the “they hate Americans” misperception, but we found that everyone we interacted with could have schooled all service personnel in the U.S. on what proper customer service really looks/sounds like. Everyone patiently put up with my complete butchering of the language, and 95% of the people responded back immediately in English. Everyone was completely professional.
Our Easyjet flight was…easy. We had called for a cab the night before, (G7) and I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t show, but it appeared right at 4:30 a.m. on the dot. With the exception of one big air pocket during the landing in Rome in which I thought we were all going to die, the flight was uneventful and on time.
And so ended our Paris adventures. I am very grateful that we had an opportunity to see this great city, and again, want to thank all of you for your advice in our preparations.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to entertain and inform us all with your witty and well written posts!
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I have enjoyed reading your reports, and I hope when you get home you tell those nasty rude people that make up stories about how %26quot; they don%26#39;t like Americans%26quot; that they are full of it, and then ask them how THEY know that since they most likely haven%26#39;t even been to France. They just can%26#39;t be honest and say what the real issue is, THEY don%26#39;t like the French because they watch too much crap t.v. and have a warped world view.
NO other nationality has as many posters say that %26quot; they heard the french were rude%26quot;, or t%26quot;he french don%26#39;t like us%26quot; as Americans. Why can%26#39;t soem Americans seperate politics from PEOPLE.
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Very much enjoyed your report. Could what you call a %26quot;floating fountain%26quot; have been an %26quot;Île flottante%26quot; (floating island)? It%26#39;s a popular French dessert classic, though there seem to be an infinite number of variations.
Maybe you could have saved some time (and metro tickets) if you would have checked out the %26quot;toy centre%26quot; on the internet - the French version of the yellow pages has photographs of (nearly) all buildings in Paris. All you need is the address. www.pagesjaunes.fr
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Shall we follow your travels into Rome next?
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We might have to go to the Rome forum (there are some fun posts about the London segment of their trip on the London forum).
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I%26#39;ve been reading your posts with interest since I%26#39;m also from Minneapolis and I am leaving in less than two weeks on my honeymoon to London and Paris.
Good stuff! I%26#39;ve really enjoyed reading them.
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Thanks everyone for your encouragement! I%26#39;m glad you enjoyed the trip report. I We certainly enjoyed living it. :) f you really are interested, I%26#39;ll be posting the Rome portions within the next couple of days or so.
Joan: I, too, wonder where that stereotype comes from. I suspect that part of it is due, unfortunately to Americans who visit Paris who have no concept that there is an entire world outside our borders and act (and therefore are subsequently treated) accordingly. It%26#39;s very unfortunate that the French are perceived that way, since it couldn%26#39;t be farther from the truth.
Jan: Yes! A Floating Island! That is indeed what it was. I%26#39;m not sure where I got Floating Fountain... :( And I%26#39;ll keep the tip about the search for next time.
DJP: I hope you have a great time on your honeymoon!
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You had fantastic reports. Just so you know I started to read them because your London reports were being mentioned on the NYC forum.
I%26#39;m always amazed at how people who have never been to Paris can make judgements about the people. Usually they have some second hand story that is proposterous at best about some sort of French injustice towards Americans.
My wife and I headed to Paris with friends in November and I have used parts of your reports for planning purposes.
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Where oh where is Maison du Lego?! I am heading to Paris with my 12 year old son in January. He loves Legos! I want to take him there. I would love to have him build the Eiffel Tower. I%26#39;ll start saving my ever shrinking dollar for that treasure! Moms
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TP: Thank you. I%26#39;m glad the reports were able to help. It%26#39;s nice to be able to repay all of the help that we%26#39;ve received from Trip Advisor. :)
Moms: I will have to get back to you on Maison du Lego. Hubby isn%26#39;t sure he kept his notes as to where it was, I was completely not paying attention to where we were due to lack of interest, and I can%26#39;t find it on the Web. Hubby thinks he might have the receipt still, so I%26#39;ll get back to you when we%26#39;re able to find anything. It might be several days though.
