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Our last evening in Paris we made our way to the Louvre and got lucky enough to eat at the cafe right by the pyramid. 

I will blog more this weekend with some other fun details and photos from the final day in Europe.  

La dernier soirée

Today was our last day in the City of Lights.  Tonight we are packing and have a very early pickup to head to the airport.  I’m sad to go and could easily stay longer.  MAIS (but) on the other hand I’m also going to be ready to get back to my new apartment and sleep in my bed.  My allergies have been pretty annoying this last week.  

Despite a few basic bumps that I think can easily happen while travel, this trip has been wonderful.  Today we went to Place des Vosges where Victor Hugo lived, and then had our 2.5 hour baking class with a nice guy who showed us how to make chouquettes, a French pastry.  Pics soon! 

We walked to the Louvre and took photos at the pyramid in the beautiful sunset, then had our final dinner right there at the cafe by the Pyramid. I finally had my croque monsier.   

Yesterday we walked over 6 miles and today was a little more relaxed.  My favorite part of this Paris trip....hmm....going up the Arc, dinner at Willi’s and our car tour were all highlights!

I plan to take some notes tomorrow on the plane of specific memories and details and blog more from my home laptop.    

Pics to come soon.  We land in SF Tuesday at 12 noon.  Signing off.  A bientot!  Check back later in the week/weekend for a couple more posts. 

Bisous 

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Louis Vuitton

The perfume smells soooo good.   We went into the Champs Elysees store. Amazing of course.   I may try to find this perfume at another smaller store tomorrow or Monday.   

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Is Jean Valjean buried at the Pantheon too?!

Our day started with the car tour aroundthe city with Stoyan.  He drove a 1970 Mercedes - very cool car.  He was a science professor and owns 10 cars and does these tours throughput the week.  Very knowledgeable and friendly.  We drove around the city on streets I've never been on before.  We stopped for wine tasting at the Pantheon.  Victor Hugo is buried here.  We really enjoyed the tour and then had some delicious crepes before we walked toward Notre Dame and Ile St Louis (and had a bite of ice cream - Carly!).   We then caught the metro back to our apartment.  (Constant dog shit along the way - Mom wanted me to add that).   I napped for an hour before we got ready for Willi’s Wine Bar!   They sat us right next to the same painting that I have in my house.  Willi’s was the same and we met a nice family from Seattle.  I found a Chanel bag at a shop next door that I may have to return for.  The Palais Royale was one of my favorite areas and we may return Monday.     

This trip has brought back a lot of distinct memories for me of the children and my time here.  I keep hearing Matthieu say “regarde Laura regarde!” And many other fun memories of my time with the kids and other people’s visits here while I lived in Bougival.    

More to come.  

Our apartment is in the 16the where many embassies and people of "old money" reside.   There are police all around and the French President from 1980 lives on this street.   Needless to say we feel safe here and it's a fun new experience to be in a new neighborhood here.  (New to me).   My feet are tired and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's activities.  

Due to the train strikes and Sorbonne students striking, we changed our car tour to tomorrow morning.    Mom and I walked to Arc de Triomphe and went to the top.   Beautiful view of the city!   We took our time then walked down the Champs Elysees.   I did not make a purchase at Louis Vuitton like I had planned.   Mais ca n'est pas grave.    Ce weekend!  We walked to la Tour Eiffel and took photos, stopped for a glass of wine then über 'do back home.     We had a nice dinner at un cafe on our street.    I made an impromptu decision to get us an uber around 930 pm and he drove us back to the Eiffel Tower to see it twinkle at night.   C'est parfait!!  He waited for us and drove us back to our apartment.    Tomorrow morning we meet our driver for the car tour I booked us on Airbnb.    We will likely hit up Willi's Wine Bar tomorrow too!   Pics to come.   Xoxo

Uber in Paris

Mom and I just took an uber home and shared the car with a cute African French guy who asked for my #.      It was an entertaining car ride through the city.   We had a sunny day at l'Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees then the Eiffel Tower.  Great day walking a few miles.  More to come after dinner!
Mom wanted me to add: he had a Bose speaker and insisted on playing us some Neo and R. Kelly with African musicians.   He also invited us to his graduation party tonight.  Side note - I imagine he was late twenties early thirties.   He was in "events management" and dressed well.  Haha.

Paris apartment

Will get outdoor shots of the building tomorrow!  It’s raining now ....

Bruges

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Bruges 

Bruges was a total success! After a stop at la pharmacie for allergy meds, mom and I walked to the market.   The Wednesday market was lit - full of huge trucks and stands filled with the most extravagant cakes, chocolate, cheeses, meats and flowers.  We made our way to the museum right there in the square, ending with the Duvel tasting room.  Bruges is full of shops and history, food and drinks. Mom shopped in a lace store and we had Belgian waffles on a stick! Mmmmm.  We wandered back to our hotel and bought a few more items.   I was so tired after a bad night w allergies so we went to bed early.   Our hotel had a little bar perfect for a night cap - duh.
Bruges was so beautiful and our hotel was perfect - 4 minute walk to the square and right along the canal!

The French train strike luckily skipped over our travel plans so we made it back to Paris fine this afternoon and checked into our apartment near l'Arc de Triomphe.   The building is gorgeous and such a quaint Parisienne spot.  We walked to a restaurant nearby, fancier than we had planned and even though we waited awhile for dinner the staff was friendly.  We stopped at a market for some essentials and are winding down now.  I've pulled out some maps so we know our plan tomorrow.   I've booked us a car ride through the city with a local guy and his vintage car.

My blogs are not as detailed as I'd like but I'm typing on an iPad mini so it's just tough.  I will try to post pics soon and will blog more each day!!

Hello from Bruges!   So - mom and I slept like rocks our first night in Paris.  We both woke up at 3 am, turned on a light and read our books for about 15 minutes.  We then slept again solid until 8 am Paris time.  I feel so much better this time with jet lag than I did 10 years ago.  We got ready and headed to Gare du Nord.  Soon we were boarding onto our first class seats on Thalys heading to Belgium.  The ride was smooth, fast and beautiful.  And we had a nice guy help us with our luggage. When we arrived in Bruges it was about 68 degrees and sunny.  Getting a taxi was easy and 7 euro later we were winding through the town square and checking into our hotel.  Hotel Ter Brughe is quaint, historic and modern.  Along the canal our room is so pretty. It's spacious and very European.  Mom and I changed clothes quickly and walked the 4 minute walk back to the square.  The Markt is busy with shoppers and tourists.  We window shopped and had beer at The Monk - fab selection of Belgian Beers.  Everyone was very friendly and the bartender told us that Bruges is population 62,000.   There is beer and chocolate everywhere and beautiful architecture.  Toward the end of the evening we sat on a patio listening to Italian and Flemish; tourists visiting over an aperitif. I noticed dark clouds approaching so we paid our tab and headed back to hotel.  Within minutes large drops fell from the sky but it was fun running along the cobblestone back to our hotel (where they had wine waiting for us).   Tomorrow we will go to the Belfort (tower) and Bruges museums and check out the Markt (market).    I hope to climb the 366 steps of the Belfort for a panoramic photo op!  Photos to follow.   Xoxo

Photos - à Bruges