DAY 40 - TUE 4/9 - Gail's Dernier Jour

Today was a bit of a relaxing day. Marty took his time in the morning, writing yesterday's Blog. Gail had gotten a ticket for herself to go to the Musee d'Orsay. Since we had already been there, she didn't mind going on her own...we would meet her afterwards. Since she is a people person like we are, Gail met a mother and daughter whom she spoke to at the Musee, as well as an artist with whom she tooled around for a while, which made her museum visit even more enjoyable.

We leisurely left the apartment around noon and planned to meet Gail at around 1:30. We hadn't had our cafe yet so we of course stopped at Cafe/Bistro Dupleix, our 'ground zero' for this neighborhood. However, with our late start, we decided to actually sit down and have a bite of lunch. Then we were off on the Metro to meet Gail at the Musee d'Orsay.

Today was a miserable day again, weather-wise, and it's starting to get a little depressing, just like the Parisians say. We met Gail in front of the Musee as planned and found a small cafe where she was able to have a small bite to eat, as she hadn't had lunch yet. We heard all about her experiences, and she loved the museum and the art exhibits.

We wanted to stay out of the rain today, but not in another museum, so we just browsed around the Rive Gauche on Blvd St. Michel. We stopped into an amazing home devices store, passed lovely flower shops with petals everywhere, and immense old doors with odd beautiful colors that work, like purple. 

      

We ogled at many antique stores with the most amazing pieces, and popped into a few art galleries. Then we dropped Gail off at her hotel to rest up and we continued on with our browsing on rue du Bac.

We passed a children's clothing store where a cashmere baby outfit with price tags of 85 euros for the vest, 45 euros for the mittens, and 48 euros for the booties...that's about $115, $65, and $70, for a total of $240 for le petit ensemble! Clothing here is expensive because it is generally not mass produced as back in the USA.

                      

And last but certainly not least we passed (it was difficult not to go in) another chocolate store (the French are mad about chocolate) where they displayed mousse made from cocoa beans from the major producers around the world...quite elaborate and impressive.
                                         

Then back to Gail's hotel for an aperitif, and then off to Josephine Chez Dumonet for dinner once again. It's a typical old world bistro, with a known chef, Christian Dumonet, where they feature black truffles. After the complimentary wine and amuse bouche soup, we had starters of country pate and oeuf (soft boiled egg in it's shell) with bread strips buttered and infused with truffle shavings that you dip into the egg. We then dined on mille feuille of pigeon, boeuf Bourgogne, and cassoulet, all so different and delicious, which we could have easily shared with another table...the portions were huge. We ended with their special dessert of molten chocolate cake and ice cream...we could have had a soufflé which would have been more French...but it was oh la la delicious none the less.

And so Gail's visit to Paris comes to an end. Despite her not feeling well and never really kicking her malaise, she was a great sport...we covered a lot of territory and there were many highlights. We hope she enjoyed her visit and got a little taste of our Paris. The night ended with each of us hopping into taxis to get home quickly as we were all exhausted.

Bonne nuit...and au Revoir to Paris from Gail.