DAY 30 - SAT 3/30 - Iles Cite & St.Louis

Frank wanted to take us for a stroll around the petites isles in the Seine in the heart of Paris, which we had not visited yet on this trip.

We bundled up and began our walk through Le Jardin du Luxembourg which they loved. 

                                

Then we passed by the Musee de Cluny, a palais from the Middle Ages, quite immense, impressive and beautiful, which once had thermal baths. In the courtyard was a huge chess set where a father and son were actually playing a game by moving the gigantic pieces around the board. 

We came to the first bridge to cross over to L'Isle Saint-Louis, the smaller of the two isles, where the Harlings had actually stayed in charming little hotels there in prior trips, so it was very memorable for them to be there again. Crossing that bridge gave us our first close-up view of the back of Cathedrale of Notre Dame de Paris and its gargoyles...no matter how many times you see it, no matter from which vantage point, it is breath-taking.

Then we arrived on L'Isle Saint-Louis. It is truly charming, like a little village in the middle of Paris, with its small colorful buildings and shops. Of course we were keeping our eyes open for the perfect picturesque and good place for lunch, and Voila! We found it...Cafe St. Regis, a very old Belle Époque cafe. They made room for the 5 of us, and we had the best dejeuner (lunch). Then we found a wonderful ice cream store and had some gelato. We worked our way across another bridge along the ramparts, and past some street actors, to the bigger island, L'Isle de La Cite, where Notre Dame is located.

           

We approached the Cathedrale from the petit parc behind it, which brings back very vivid and fond memories for us...it was just about this same time of year, back in 1969, when we were strolling there with our new-born baby, Justin. For some reason he was crying his eyes out, not a happy camper, and we had all we could do to console him. Seeing people there today with their little babies in strollers and backpacks, not to mention lovers, just brought the memories right back to us like it was yesterday.

           

Even though it's cold, and still March, that doesn't seem to slow down the hoards of tourists that flock to see Notre Dame...there is now a huge viewing stand to accommodate them all as well as the celebration of the cathedral's 350th anniversary. We were lucky enough to get inside the Cathedrale just before they were closing the doors for the afternoon.

We wended our way over to the Right Bank past the bookstalls on the Seine, and Bazaar Hotel de Ville, to take the Harlings to the stunning Place des Vosges in the Marais. 

At this point, all of us were frozen so we slipped into a charming cafe under the arches around the Parc and had some nice hot chocolates and wine to warm up. 

We sat there and talked and talked until it was time to walk back over to the Left Bank and go to dinner at Chez Rene, a well known old bistrot were famous politicos are known to frequent. 

We had lovely pâté, champignons, coq au vin, boeuf Bourgogne, lots of red wine, Creme caramel, and don't forget the Mille Feuilles!  

Wow! it was all so good!

Note: "WOW" is now part of French vocabulary and you hear it sprinkled throughout local conversations.

Bonne Nuit!