Paris, France

Thursday 15/3
It was a beautiful day when we woke; mild and sunny with clear blue skies. This was such a nice way to start the day. We headed out for a walk along the Seine and then came home to get ready for a 10.30am walking tour. We were taking this tour around the Saint Germaine area which is an area right beside where our apartment is located. The 2 hr ‘Paris Walks’ tour started at St Sulpice, a 10 min walk away, and finished just near our apartment. We saw medieval Churches and heard about how the coffee scene in Paris started at the Saint Germain markets with early traders from Turkey supplying the new beverage. We saw where the cafes where Hemingway wrote, the hotel where Oscar Wilde died and the apartment where Picasso lived and had his studios.This was a really good tour and well guided by Brad fro Paris Walks. This would be an ideal tour for Art lovers especially.

We headed straight down to the farmers markets located along Rue Mouffetard at the completion of the tour. This was about a 20 min walk from our apartment but a favourite of ours as we had spent a fair bit of time here with the kids a few years ago. We called back to the Charcuterie where we used to buy our evening meals and bought some rotisserie chicken for our dinner. We actually had photos from our last visit on our phone that we showed to the shop staff and this delighted them all to no end! We grabbed a quick bite at a boulangerie that Annabelle used to frequent on our last trip and then went next door where we had some of the best gelato that we’d ever tasted.

After dropping off all of our food supplies back home we headed over to the Marais district where we took a self guided walking tour using a Frommers guide book. This lasted for about 2 hours and it was a lovely way to fill in the afternoon strolling the streets of this historic and, now, cosmopolitan area. We cannot get over how full the cafes are at all times of the day especially given how expensive it is to visit there. Our stop this afternoon for one beer and one coke cost 10 euros! We don’t know when these guys work to be able to pay these prices!

From the Marais we headed back to the apartment for an early night of dining in. Our dinner was humble but absolutely delicious and washed down with a 2009 Bordeaux. Dinner started with some local cheeses, pate and prosciutto with bread. This was followed by roast chicken and vegetables. We needed some simple cooking and a good dose of vegetables and that is why we prefer staying in apartments as it gives you that flexibility.