Bonjour. Happy Birthday to EBC III . Today is our last day in Paris and in France. We are up for our final breakfast and then out into the streets on a stunning day. We catch an Uber and ride to Sacre Cour, at the end taking the Funicular to the top. Howie and Lee tour the Church while Deb and Mark stroll the square, looking at people, pigeons and other assorted sites. After the church tour, we wander the horrifically crowded streets, stopping in the small shops to gaze at the merchandise. Eventually we settle in a cafe for a glass of wine and some pomme frites for our lunch.
We then start the trek down the steps, and split up for the afternoon. Howie and Lee go to explore Pigalle and a look at Moulin Rouge, following which they head for the long walk back towards the hotel and a nice stop for a sandwich and then a pleasant hour and a half at the Picasso Museum. The museum was showing a combination of Picasso works and Alexander Calder works; most interesting, but somewhere along the line, Howie misplaced his hat. That makes a hat and a wallet swallowed up by the City of Light.
Mark and Deb went on to the Metro stop at Abbesses to catch a subterranean ride to the Left Bank and our destination of Le Bien Aimee - a yarn shop, to pick up Abigail’s requested order of hand dyed yarn. After three train line changes, we arrive and step out into the sunshine for the amble to the cute little shop where we make our purchases and visit for a bit; then back towards Place d’Italie for the metro.
We take a break for another rest stop and then board the metro again to head back to the Bastille and a walk to our hotel. We arrive around 4:45 and head upstairs to pack and rest.
We meet back up with Howie and Lee to hear of their adventurous afternoon and plan for our last meal in Paris. We walk to Place du Marché St. Catherine, the small square near our hotel lined with small cafes - tres romantic. We choose the restaurant Le Marché, took a seat outside and dined on a crepe caramel, omelettes and tagliatellia followed by a creme brûlée dessert shared by all. A fitting end to our Parisian experience. We walked a few blocks to clear our digestive tracts and then to bed for our early morning wake-up.
