Breakfast in Japanese tea room at hotel. Too many days of bacon and
pommes terre for wife, especially now that it's 32 euro a piece. Wife vows never again, and hopes to find the infamous American breakfast joint she's heard so much about (more tomorrow).
Husband is definitely a right bank kind of guy. Wife is a left bank kind of girl. I suppose they meet on a bridge and work things out. Wife's attempt to buy stamps brings her to verge of tears. Automated machine again because postal employees keep directing her to the machine. Only can insert 17 coins (random number) at a time and husband has abandoned her outside and she doesn't have enough large coinage to complete her purchase. Worse is that people are cursing at her (at least in a language she doesn't understand) to hurry up with her transaction, and when she finally receives stamps, they are are weirdly long and horizontal and won't possibly fit on some of the post cards she's purchased. Epic fail. Wife vows to learn French before next visit.
Time for lunch. We find Le Coupe
d'Or which is across the street from a sandwich shop the guide book mentioned, but it had no seating. Have an EXCELLENT
croque monsieur and the husband has a hamburger. Definitely a nice lunch spot, though wife needs to lay of the french fries.
We walk along the Rue
de Rivoli and cross a bridge to go back to the Rive Gauche. Surprise of surprises, husband wants to keep walking! This trip it appears husband will lead the death marches. Husband wants to see
Notre Dame again, so we walk towards it. Stop for two
cappuccinos and one bad shared crepe. Arrive at
Notre Dame. As beautiful as ever and wife is moved to say that husband and wife should go back to mass.
Walk back to hotel leads to purchase of delicious macaroons at a bakery's whose name wife forgets (regrettably). We see a demonstration in the street. Chris, shockingly, wants to go see what it's about, but quickly abandons project when he realizes it's a parade for some African country's national day. Wife gives stamped postcards to concierge upon return to hotel only to be told that it will be delayed a couple days because there is a postal strike. Wife finds this odd as she just visited a post office three hours prior, but husband thinks maybe it's the postal carriers.
Dinner at Le
Carre de Feuillants, a two-starred restaurant recommended by our concierge, which serves as nice meal to replace the one that husband missed during Monaco. It does not
disappoint. Translation of menu necessary for both parties, lest both would have ordered the sweetbreads - neither bread, nor sweet husband never tires (his edit) of pointing out. The bread here is amazing, including
grissini that is flavored with cumin. Both husband and wife order the mushroom appetizer which is incredible - trio of mushrooms includes thinly sliced and seared not sure of type mushroom, a mushroom
rouillete that is shaped like a mushroom stem and is topped with the top of a
portabello to make it look like a whole mushroom, and a mushroom cream. Veal with truffles (whole shavings on top...
mmmmm.....) for wife and rack of lamb for husband. Wife wants cheese instead of dessert. True to tradition, though wife lingers over cheese waiting for husband's dessert to arrive.... dessert is not served until after cheese has left the table, so end result of lingering is a 30 minute wait for husband.
C'est la vie. Dinner is complimented by a 2002
Echezeaux. We see bill come to diners next to us. Apparently the restaurant can charge your card in whatever currency you want. Couple next door asks for charge in Japanese Yen.
Technology.... wow.
One final drink in hotel's famous bar and off to bed, prepared to visit Breakfast in America in only 10 or so hours.
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