What day is it, Friday, no it's Saturday. That is the question Mary and I keep asking each other. I can't believe this is our tenth vacation day, we only have a couple more left.
This morning we woke and had cafe au lait, a crepe, and a cheese and salad baguet under the Eiffel Tower, while we waited for our Fat Tire Bike tour of Paris to begin. It took awhile to get everyone assembled and split into groups, but once we did we were off. First was a return to the Champ du Mars (field of war), at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
Next we visited the UNESCO world heritage headquarters, the Invalides, the Pont Alexandre, Concorde, Tuileries Gardens, and then the Louvre. We stopped for a sit down lunch at the Tuileries Gardens, where we had savory crepes with drinks. After visiting the courtyard of the Louvre, we speedily raced back to the Champ du Mars for more pictures and then back to the office to return the bikes. All and all a great experience, and our guide Jackson was great. On the way back to the office, one of the customer's bike chain fell off, Jackson gave her his guide bike while riding hers like a scooter for the remaining 5 minutes back.
We are now getting ready to depart for a walking tour of Montmartre, the romantic artist quarter of Paris. I need to get dressed and then wake Mary up from her nap. More to follow later.
Evening Update - Montmarte was beautiful, but the climb was steep and somewhat rough on my battered feet. I (without thinking) wore my dress shoes (with gel heels), which I had previously worn on previous day's walks. Unfortunately for me, this tour was too much. Maybe it was the steep hills applying pressure to the edge, maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the specific pair of socks I was wearing. Whatever the cause, my feet felt broken once we reached the top.
As a consolation, we now had sufficient cause to take the funicular down (future note, take funicular up, then walk down). By the way Montmartre has some very interesting sights, including a market, museum, basilica, view over the city, and the very first bistros in the world. Evidently the word bistro stems from Russian soldiers slammimg their fists on the bar shouting "bistra," which means faster. So faster Parisian food can be found in a bistro.
After decsending from Sacre Couer, I hobbled though three metro stations until finally reaching Ecole Militaire. We decided to try to eat dinner in our hotel neighborhood. We spent the next three hours enjoying an excellent dinner at Fountain de Mars. On a side note, President Obama and the first lady dined here while on a state visit to France.
The meal was delicious, I had grilled breast of duck, while Mary had lamb. We each chose house wines (Vin du Maison blanc/rouge) to go with out meals. We also opted for dessert, which was also very good. Mary had creme brulee, while I opted for an assortment of sorbet from Bertillon.
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