More of Paris

More sightseeing

It was a grey drizzly day and we started today’s exploration on foot, walking to Galeries Lafayette department store.  We weren’t shopping but the view from the rooftop is supposed to be quite good.

To my surprise the store was quite shabby in parts but very big with a very nice atrium.  I expected a really polished high-end presentation like their branch in Singapore.  The view from the roof was quite good, giving us a view of Palais Garnier opera house, the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur.

The store is actually housed in several buildings.  We found the men’s department next door which was co-located with its large food hall.  There was a good mix of ordinary and exotic food but overall felt more down-to-earth than Harrod’s food hall.  And the store, as a whole, felt more modern lighter simpler but more worn than Harrods.

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We continued to the nearby Opera station to look for Roissybus, the bus to Charles de Gaulle airport, as it may be easier than the metro.  Then we continued by foot to Place de la Concorde, passing the Louvre and making a stop at the Conran Shop.  The shop had a mix of wares that were nice and others that could have been sourced from an el-cheapo shop.  Often, it is the presentation and branding that allows them to command a premium price.

Crossing the River Seine, we headed to the Dome Church where Napoleon’s tomb was housed.  The tombs of the nation’s war heroes was closed on the first Monday of the month which meant we didn’t get to visit Napoleon.  We wandered around Hotel des Invalides, built as a hospital and retirement home for war veterans.

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It hadn’t been a very pleasant outing with the rain, cold temperature and wind.  We needed lunch to refuel.  Kim chose both set meals, stopping me from making my own choices which could have been a Salad Nicoise.  Both his selections weren’t good.  A rare steak and a rare roast beef.

It was time for us to get out of the wet weather.  We took the metro back and got some mille feuille along the way while exploring the Jewish and Arab sweet shops.  Both sell the same selection, and likewise the Jewish and Arab takeaways sell the same kebab and shwarma fare.

River cruise and Dinner

Late in the afternoon, we took the tube to the Notre Dame where we hopped on a cruise down the River Seine to the Eiffel Tower.  As it is also a hop-on, hop-off service, it was a pleasant (but not necessarily fast) way of getting around to some of the city’s sights.  We wished we had used it to better effect yesterday.

As we alighted at the Eiffel Tower, we saw the city’s landmark light up, as if it was specially done just for us.  Then it started flashing with lights all over before settling into a normal “wash” with lights for the evening.

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We had dinner a place called Bistro Romain.  Unlike lunch, our choices really hit the spot.  We had what I had wanted for lunch, being Salad Nicoise (EUR12) and a delicious salmon lasagne accompanied by a salad (EUR11).

The waitress then said we could have dessert for one hour, pointing to this amazing dessert tapas of various items.  We then realised she meant for one additional Euro (sounds like hour with the French accent).

It was an awesome tasting platter of vodka-lime sorbet, crème brulee, chocolate mousse, orange capaccio, a couple of other creamy delights, lollies and a cake in a wrapper.  With that dessert, the meal was amazing value, comparable to the typical set meal for EUR10 pp.

With dinner prices like that, it is cheaper to eat here than back in New Zealand.  Perhaps it was stiff competition but we hear that tourism is on a low right now.  While the queues at the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame were long, there were many river cruise boats and restaurant-boats operating with very few passengers.

We seem to have ended our short Paris stay on a high, as if to make up for our troublesome arrival.