almost the end: day 7

I have to be honest, I was kind of bummed about Saturday.  Patrick ended up having to work.  :(  boo.  He had told me on Thursday night that it wasn't looking good so I did have some time to prepare and make a plan.  I felt a little pissy about it initially but that wouldn't have helped anything so I made the best of it.  He wouldn't have worked if he didn't have to, you know?  sigh.  And after all, I was in Paris.  I could make do.  :)

((If we would have been thinking?  I would have joined him for the week AFTER he worked.  But obviously we weren't thinking.  Poor bunny.  He needs a Paris vacation now.))

We did sleep in a little on Saturday and when Patrick left for work I left for the famous flea market, Les Puces.  I wandered around for most of the morning and found some vintage linens (that I adore) to bring home.  It was just so fun to browse the crooked little alleyways. 

 I really wanted one small painting from this jumbled stall but it was 180 euro:

 I really wanted this for out on our patio:

 I really wanted this metal riveted table for our living room:

Apparently, this market goes on and on (and on) but I got cold and hungry and left after a few hours. 

Many stores in Paris aren't open on Sundays so I knew this was my last chance to buy a few things at my favorite Monoprix.  It was so fun & so hard to choose what to bring back.  I wanted to buy one of everything for everyone but that just wasn't practical.  I walked around for a long time and looked one last time at nearly everything.  I especially loved the yogurt aisle.  They had what seemed like 1000 kinds of yogurt, all in cute little pots and packaging.  I loved it.  :) 

Speaking of the refrigerated section...one day I went to look for some type of lunch meat to bring back to the hotel that we could snack on.  I didn't want ham, as we had been eating a LOT of ham, and when I got to the meat section it seemed like all that was there was HAM.  Hundreds of different cuts/brands/styles but all HAM.  It was pretty funny.  I know there was some other stuff but everywhere I looked, all I saw was JAMBON.

I finally made my selections (including my own spoon, thankyouverymuch Dieter) and headed back to the hotel.  I ate another baquette sandwich, read for a while and generally felt a little glum.  After a while I noticed an odd lightening to the sky and went to the window.  It was so strange.  It was actually light-ish outside!  I wouldn't go as far as saying it was sunny, but lighter than it had been all week.  I put my stuff back on and left for a walk.

A cold and drizzly morning & afternoon had turned into a warm-ish, light-ish late afternoon and it almost felt like spring outside.  It felt so good to be out, to be walking again, and I just wandered off down a street I hadn't been on before, with the Tower in my sights.

 I have to say, of everything I did in Paris, just walking around was my favorite thing. 

 I also liked their street lights a lot.  Oh, and that golden dome, too.  (aka the tomb of Napoleon.)

 

This was such a beautiful neighborhood.

 

 It started getting darker and soon the tower was lit.

By the time I got right up to the tower it was nearly dark and I was hungry.  I hadn't had a proper street crepe yet so I got in line.

I chose a simple butter & sugar one and it was delicious.

I took my crepe & cafe creme and ate them standing over the Seine.  It was beautiful.  It feels kind of like a celebration every night at the Tower.  How could it not, right?

 

For some, it felt even more like a party.  (Next time I am totally taking the Disco Bus.)  (kidding.)  :)

I finished my snack and crossed the river and continued walking quite a ways down the other side, peering into the houseboats anchored there.  Can you imagine?  "Oh, I live at 123 River Seine."  :)  Inside this one there was a woman decorating for a party with two children.  (yes, I felt like kind of a creeper but it was fascinating to me.  I love looking in windows at night!)

After this I went home and met up with Patrick.  We had a nice dinner at our favorite place and planned the next day together.  And what a day it was!!  Pouring Rain!  The Elusive Sun!  Gay Pride Parade!  Closed Attractions!  Pissiness!  Crepes!  Our final day in Paris had it all.  I can't wait to tell you about it tomorrow.  :)

xoxoxo

xoxoxo