Notre Dame de Paris, Montmartre and Eiffel Tower

Vosges des Place

We read in the website that Rue de Rivoli was a shopping street with H&M and the like but an hour and an eclair later, we ended up in Vosges des Place, an ancient square built when Louis the 13th was in power. Victor Hugo once stayed in house no. 6 in that square.


Some views of the square.

Bronze statue of Louis the 13th.

A small alley. (Bottom)

With no shopping potential in sight, we headed to Notre Dame Paris. As it was our second last day in Paris, we were hit with the sudden realisation that time was running out. The darnest thing about this day was that it was the first day of the time of the month. All the walking made me tired and my insides hurt. I needed a place to rest. At close to noon, we reached Notre Dame and I was looking for a place to rest, go toilet and perhaps eat. This bistro had a number of cuttings and accolades, including one from Tripadvisor, so what the hey, as long as it had a toilet, we were in.

The bistro near Notre Dame was managed by a friendly blond chap. But my mood was foul. My food came really late and I hated the men that day. They did not understand that a woman on her first day of inconvenience needed rest, a clean toilet and fast food. Why won't they learn?

The escargot was alright but my hubby refused to eat them, saying they didn't smell good.

My duck breast with mashed potatoes and tomoto was pretty good.

The lamb stew that had me stewing. It took so long to cook this dish and it is the Parisians' practice is to serve meals at the same table at the same time.

Just a few shops away, we found the real Berthillon. We knew it weas the real deal because there was a posh counter displaying Berthllion products.

So many choices, so little tummy space...

We had some light sorbet - lime and strawberry for me and cherry and mango for him.

Notre Dame de Paris

With a good rest and a full tummy, I was ready for Notre Dame de Paris. The cathedral was polished, grand and crowded. Some of the sculptures were even colour painted.

The confession box in Chartres was blackish and dirty but we had great fun playing in it. This one at Paris was cordoned off, for a good reason, I guess.


A wooden replica of the cathedral.

Montmartre

We only had time for just one more tourist attraction before we head back to the B&B to shower, take a quick dinner and then go to Eiffel. Monmartre is an artist town as well as a red light district. How to miss such a place?

After we alighted from the metro, we took the 30-minute tram ride around the area. I would like to go back again in the night the time I'm there. I was sure the mystic and vibrancy of the place was lost in the day.

The famous Moulin Rouge. (Bottom)

On board the tram with my favourite drink - Orangina which only cost less than S$1.

At the artist square and loving my new Longchamp bag.

Eiffel Tower

The Paris icon was indeed romantic, especially at sunset. We booked a 9pm slot online and reached the tower just when the sun was setting. The view was gorgoeus. What I did not count on was a tiff with my spouse atop the most romantic place on earth. I told him he owed me a sunset in Paris, and I have not stop reminding him.

At 10pm, the tower became a fireworks itself, emblazoned with thousands of dazzling lights. Some people may find this tacky but it moved me. I'm sure many successful proposals happended here at 10pm.

Rue Mouffetard and St-Germain-des-Pres

Rue Mouffetard

Itinerary for day 5 was St-Germain-des-Pres. Philippe advised that we shop at Le Bon Marche in St-Germain rather than Galeries Lafayette as the latter is more crowded and both malls sell similar stuff. Since we bought a 2-day boat pass, we thought might as well enjoy a nice boat ride to St-Germain. And that day, we took a different route to take the Batobus. That's where we discovered a street market gem that is Rue Mouffetard. It was only a 5-minnute walk from our B & B yet the century old street market offered us a whole new sight-seeing experience. I love the cobbled stone street and the authentic old market feel. It was my best morning walk in Paris. I took lots of pictures of the sights and things that the people at Rue Mouffetard took for granted and I absolutely adored.

The street market sold all sorts of things - breads, fruits, seafood, poultry, chocolates. It even hads a provision shop that sold all kinds of nick nacks. I bought the most useful thing in Paris in that shop - a pouch towel - which the Parisians use as a loofah but I see its usefulness in holding ice cubes to nurse a headache or fever.

Humongous prawns and squids.

This basket of colourful watering cans were found in a provision shop selling nick nacks and the pouch towel I bought.

Cheese!!

Pastries in France are really exquisite and yummy but the best ones have yet to come...

We saw this humongous Nutella at one of the creperies. Biggest bottle of gooey ecstasy I have ever seen but not found in any retail store. If little prince saw this, he would have thought he had died and gone to heaven.

We didn't get to walk the entire Rue Rue Mouffetard, as the street was pretty long. We proceeded to Jardin de Plantes, a public garden near the Batobus stop and stopped to smell the tulips and cherry blossoms.

A Batobus stop taken from the boat. (Top)

Closer and more artisitc shots of the Eiffel Tower.

The weather turned really hot on this day. At about 11am, we braved the heat and did the perfuntory walk in St Germain where lots of unique French boutiques could be found. I found the famous French perfume store, Annick Goutal , as recommended by Lyne and some magazines, and let my nose did its work. While I let the scents sink in, we headed towards the direction of Le Bon Marche and found lunch at Le Pre Aux Clercs, a crowded bistro near St Germain. You could get a decent prix fixe menu, or set meal, at less than 20 EUR. My hubby got the fish with bastami rice while got the duck breast with sweet potato - always get the duck, I say. We also tried the French onion soup which was so-so but the duck and fish were good.

With a full belly, we headed to Le Bon Marche, my first shopping opportunity in France. My hubby liked the place - not crowded, no tourists and I didn't enter any fitting room even once. Clothes there were all brand names with price tags that would burn a hole in my pockets, if I had one. But I found my Annick Goutal perfume and my Longchamp bag there. I had told my hubby before we went to Paris that he had to buy me a bottle of French perfume. The one he got me was perfect. Love the smell and the whole packaging.

Saw this adorable neck pillow at Etam, a lingerie shop that could be found everywhere in Paris and I had to get it.


The weather was really hot and we were craving for the famous Berthillon ice-cream, so we took a Metro to Notre Dame. Didn't manage to see the cathedral that day as it was close to 5pm when we reached there. Saw a queue outside an ice-cream parlour that had the Berthillon sign and we got really excited. My vanilla and caramel was so good and the cone biscuit was crunchy. Think my hubby had the nougat and coconut. Despite the ice-cream tasting divine, we found out the next day when we returned that it was not the bona fide Berthillon. The original shop was a lot more posh and just a few shops away. But both my hubby and I agreed that they tasted equally good.

Street perfomers along the bridge. They were good and people were buying their albums on the spot.

Exterior of Notre Dame de Paris

They say that this particular spot is the centre of Paris and that if you stood on it, you would return to Paris. We stood there for a while, taking pictures...

When dinner time came, we wanted to try soupy ramen. There were a number of Jap restaurants near our B & B but we went for the Yoyo Ramen, a small shop that sold simple Jap food. The spicy beef ramen was very good. The katsu don was little less authentic.