It´s been a lovely sunny w/e in Paris but still cold if you´re not in the sun. It´s becoming a bit of a habit but when in Rome and all...we started the day with an assortment of croissant fresh from Carole´s local boulangerie before heading straight to the street market just near her house. Oh God I wish they had French markets like these elsewhere in the world! The whole main street was blocked off with cheese stalls, rotisserie stands and charcuterie shops standing cheek-by-jowl with every kind of fresh fruit and vegetable all beautifully displayed and lined up to most please the eye. There were HUGE pans of paella steaming and smelling divine, as well as the waft of roasted chicken and pomme de terre baking in the chicken drippings - it´s making my mouth water again just thinking about it!
Carole introduced us to this brilliant cycle initiative (http://www.velib.paris.fr/) where you pay €1 for 24hrs of bike use but only 30 mins at a time - you can take it for longer stretches, it just costs more. The idea is to encourage cycle commuters but anyone can use it and there are cycle pick-up/drop off points all over Paris, just about on every other block. It´s an absolutely brilliant idea so we cycled from Carole´s house to the Eiffel tower - about 25 mins, smiling and enjoying our good fortune all the way :)
Today was the Paris marathon and although we did know that, we didn´t know where it was being run so we walked from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc´de Triomphe and bumped right into the finishing line! After enjoying a street side aris equivalent of a hot dog (delicious sausage on half a baguette with frites & moutard), we headed up to Sacre Coeur for the beautiful views and perfect people watching. Scoffed the obligatory crepe with sugar and lemon and then headed to Jim Morrison´s grave - a new experience for me!
We´re now back in Carole´s very cute flat in the 15th feeling contentedly exhausted... The Louvre, Place des Voges and the yummy middle eastern food of the Marais for lunch tomorrow - life´s tough!
Carole introduced us to this brilliant cycle initiative (http://www.velib.paris.fr/) where you pay €1 for 24hrs of bike use but only 30 mins at a time - you can take it for longer stretches, it just costs more. The idea is to encourage cycle commuters but anyone can use it and there are cycle pick-up/drop off points all over Paris, just about on every other block. It´s an absolutely brilliant idea so we cycled from Carole´s house to the Eiffel tower - about 25 mins, smiling and enjoying our good fortune all the way :)
Today was the Paris marathon and although we did know that, we didn´t know where it was being run so we walked from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc´de Triomphe and bumped right into the finishing line! After enjoying a street side aris equivalent of a hot dog (delicious sausage on half a baguette with frites & moutard), we headed up to Sacre Coeur for the beautiful views and perfect people watching. Scoffed the obligatory crepe with sugar and lemon and then headed to Jim Morrison´s grave - a new experience for me!
We´re now back in Carole´s very cute flat in the 15th feeling contentedly exhausted... The Louvre, Place des Voges and the yummy middle eastern food of the Marais for lunch tomorrow - life´s tough!
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