My Paris Trip

The weather cooperated, although it was cool and cloudy (but very little rain), and I overall had an absolutely fabulous time. I kept a detailed journal while I was there, mostly for when I was traveling around by myself and didn't have anyone to talk to anyhow :( but I don't have the time or the energy to transcribe everything I did, saw, thought, or experienced. Instead you'll get the Cliff Notes version, and whenever I next see any of you over drinks, I'll give you the unabridged stories. Here is my itinerary of my trip. Pictures are already up on smugmug, and I'll write more captions later.

Wednesday, May 24
-Take Eurostar (TGV) to Paris, an only 3 hour trip from London
-Arrive at cute Montmartre Hotel to drop my bags and start my sightseeing
-Walk around Montmartre for 3 hours (Sacre Couer, Moulin Rouge, St. Vincent Cemetery)
-4 hour nap :)
-Dinner at Doudingue in Montmartre
-Back to Sacre Couer at midnight to look at the Paris Lights and the Eiffel Tour while it sparkled (for 10 minutes every hour on the hour in the evenings)

Thursday, May 25
-Notre Dame, attended a French Catholic Mass for Ascension Day
-Centre de Georges Pompidou to see the Modern Art Museum
-Walked around Ile de St. Louis, the smaller island behind Notre Dame
-Walked around the Latin Quartier, and saw the Pantheon and the Sorbonne
-2 hour nap
-Watched "Transamerica" with Felicity Huffman at a local historic Montmartre movie theater
-Dinner at Chez Toinette

Friday, May 26
-Went to an outdoor (farmer's-type) market on the east side of Paris
-Walked around Place de la Republique and Oberkampf
-Walked up the Canal St. Martin and the greater canal it connects to by locks
-Switched from the Montmartre hotel to the Le Meridien Etoile near the Arc de Triomphe
-Spend the afternoon at the new, nicer hotel taking a leisurely bath and watching TV
-Dinner at Lateral, a restaurant just off the Arc de Triomphe
-another nap, only about an hour :)
-John arrives from London!
-John and I go back out to Cafe Lateral for more food and some vin rouge

Saturday, May 27
-Eiffel Tower
-Bateaux Mouche boat tour up/down the Seine to see all the major sights at once
-Lunch in the Latin Quarter at Montebello overlooking Notre Dame from the patio
-An afternoon of drinking at Le Fumoir behind the Louvre

Sunday, May 28
-La Defense office area to see Le Grand Arche
-Montmartre to see Sacre Couer and go to the Dali Museum
-Lunch in Montmartre
-Pere Lachaise Cemetery to see Jim Morrison's grave
-THE BEST MEAL EVER at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
-Cab ride back to the hotel, past the sparkling Eiffel Tower and around the Arc de Triomphe

Monday, May 29
-Louvre
-Shopping
-Eurostar back to London

So that's it in a nutshell! Check out my pics on smugmug to the right.