Last night we had dinner (like we said we would) on the cheap. Q Burger. I think the Q stands for quick. The burger had a whole wheat bun. I was confused, I thought this was Paris. People don't eat whole wheat buns in Paris. Anyway, I'm way more confused about the service customs now, because at Q Burger, it was impeccable. We were promptly served, our order was cooked fresh and served to us in a timely fashion as we sat on a high stool table overlooking a little rock garden. All included, €14. A regular restaurant costs at least €40. After dinner, my true love had a special night planned, so it was off to Pont de L'Alma to take an evening boat ride on the Seine.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Metro Station (I have no idea how he got a metro station named after him) was awesome. Classy with big screen TV's. My kind of Metro station.
When we got to our destination and surfaced, the Eiffel Tower stood proudly in the distance. It was a bit chilly, but the sky was looking great, so I was looking forward to an enchanting boat ride.
We got on board. My true love bought me some candy along the way, so I ate the sour pieces and gave her the Coke bottles.
It was a very romantic experience once we mentally blocked out the photo crazy tourists trying to get a shot of the Eiffel Tower (because this very boat was the only permitted opportunity to take a photo of the giant pylon) and beer swigging Aussies who thought it necessary to recite some (I'm guessing Aussie Rules) chants full of eff bombs and blah blah blahs. We still cuddled and told each other how nice it was to be there in that moment.
When ever we passed under a bridge, people would wave and cheer. I thought I would get a photo of the waving and cheering to share. When I went through the photos, I just about spat out my wine with laughter as I noticed that not everyone was waving and cheering.
I got some really nice photos of the setting sun and the lit up pylon.
All in all, it was a great experience. This morning we set off to visit the Catacombes!
The Bastille Metro Station was vacant. Very lonely. At times like these, I tend to either do acrobats or dance. Either way, my true love cracks a smile and tells me I so weird. I tell her I'm living in the moment.
We made our journey to the Catacombes, only to find out that it was closed for Bastille Day. No one really knew that it was closed because it's supposed to be open on a holiday. Even a tour guide didn't know. He asked us if we were there for a private tour. I said, "yes, we definitely are". Then my true love said, "no, we're not". And he said, "oh, ok. Well no one told anyone that they were closed today."
So I sulked about until we had breaky. Then I was ok and it was off the the Opéra Garnier! We realized we were out of money again after breakfast, so we had to make a quick pitstop to refuel the money bag.
The Opéra Garnier was awesome. I learned some stuff about this magnificent place. They call it the Palais Garnier. Louis XIV (the man) founded the Paris Opera in 1669 and this was the 13th edition of the building. It was built by Charles Garnier and took 15 years. There were a few set backs in construction (but when isn't there?), but if you get the chance to see is place, it's a masterpiece.
I bet Charles visited the Palace of Versailles, saw the hall of mirrors and thought to himself, child's play. There is a hall at the Opera that I thought was impeccable.
After we left the Opera, a shiny apple caught my eye.
We went to the Apple store! It's so funny because I've played with all the Apple stuff a million times, but it just doesn't get old to me. After I got my fix, we went shopping shopping. The place to spend lots of money is Galeries Lafayette. All the major labels are there; Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Tiffany & Co., blah, blah, blah. The people that can afford those antiques we saw yesterday probably buy their casual weekend clothes here. A petite dress my true love had her eye on was on sale from €520. If you want to spend some real money, get something made custom. Tailored suits started at €3500 here.
We decided to stick to our plan and each get an outfit for dinner tonight. My true love got a nice little purple dress, I picked out a yellow shirt to compliment her. It was funny actually. I got it in my head that I needed a yellow dress shirt, so the hunt was on. No one was selling the colour yellow! This either verifies that I am a trend setter, or have no fashion sense. I even went to Café Cotton where the only thing they sell is dress shirts starting at €110 and they had every colour except yellow. Not even a yellow stripe. Anyway, I did find a nice yellow polo.
After shopping, we had pizza again at Pompei on Rue de Castellane. Delicious. We even had a salad to get a little greenery. The dining room overlooked the street.
When we got back to Hotel Royal Bastille, there was a protest in the street! Something about democracy for France. Maybe they haven't read the news since 1958.
It's been a relaxing afternoon writing and drinking wine, my true love napping and protestors protesting. Tonight we'll put on our new clothes and visit Île Saint-Louis for dinner!
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