Friday In Paris

Finally, some sleep!  We actually slept in this morning--until 7:30.  Yes, for us that is sleeping in.

After a nice leisurely breakfast of fruit, yummy French yogurt and left over baguette,  we were off to a very late 11 am start! We took the Metro over to Notre Dame Cathedral.  Even though we were there twice last year- once to climb the towers, and once to attend a Gregorian chant service, we still hadn't really explored the interior of the church. So today was the day, and we weren't disappointed.   It is an amazing example of gothic architecture and full of history.  The stained glass is beautiful.  There are too many windows to post pictures of them all, but here are a few of our favorites: 

We spent about 1 1/2 hours admiring the windows, the beautiful arches and took in a special exhibit, Treasures of Notre Dame.  I don't think we could ever get bored with Notre Dame.

Our plan for the afternoon was to explore a new area of the city, specifically the Montorguiel Market street and surrounding area.  So back to the Metro! We are beginning to feel like two little moles--just popping up all over the place!

We found the street without much trouble--and what a lovely area.  Just full of great stores selling fruit & vegies, bakeries, nice clothing shops, and many, many restaurants.  Buy that time we were more than ready to have lunch and rest our weary feet.  We chose a small Italian sandwich shop, and those panini were delish!  Of course we wanted to sit outside but no tables were available, so we took our lunch up to their 2nd level dining area.  What a view from the big window right by our table.  The details of the old buildings are so pretty:

After our lunch we roamed around this area and found the garment district. Very interesting!  No sales to the public, but it was fun to look.  Again, the buildings were just amazing:

By now it's very late afternoon, and time to Metro back to our apartment, drop off some packages, and relax a bit over a cold beer.  We had been discussing our dinner plans, and decided on moules y frites.  We'd read about a good place in Paris, Leon de Bruxelles--and it was mmmmmm  good!  Here I am getting reading to dig in to that yummy pot of mussels in white wine:

Notice the fries?  They were all you can eat, free refills. Those mussels were so delicious--who needed fries? Not us, we barely touched them.  But there wasn't a single mussel left in either pot!  I think we'll be going back next week.

After that yummy dinner, we walked around the St. Germaine des Pres neighborhood a bit.  Really pretty area, one that we will explore (read: SHOP) further next week!

Our day was winding down, the sun is setting on our first full day in Paris.  We decide a visit to the Eiffel Tower is in order--complete with twinkling lights. So back to our neighborhood, and a lovely little cafe with a (partial) view of the Tower.  A glass of wine, an espresso, a creme brulee and my sweetie--what more could a gal ask for?  

A nice stroll back to our apartment, another perfect day in Paris.

Tomorrow:  A brocante--right in our neighborhood!  We've been seeing big banners strung across the streets, and posters up in our neighborhood.  This Saturday and Sunday there's a big antique and flea market (a brocante) just two streets over.  Now that's great timing!  So our plan for Saturday morning--hit the streets bright and early to find that perfect French treasure to bring home.  (ha!)  Stay tuned!