Our hotel was near the Pantheon, so on my morning walk, I checked out the neighborhood and learned that King Louis XV wanted to build a prestigious building, and that it later became a crypt for important people such as Victor Hugo, Voltaire and Marie Curie.
Across the street from the Pantheon is the Sorbonne's Law School where they were conducting a conference on the Paris treaty on the environment (which President Trump is trying to pull the USA out of by 2020).
Friday afternoon, Patty and I visited the Jardin des Plantes, a very nice garden and zoo. We did not go into the zoo but there was an area outside the zoo where they have wallabys.
It was a rainy afternoon with showers on and off - but it was not cold. So we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at the very nice restaurant at the Jardin des Plantes.
Our waitress spoke very good English, without a French accent, plus she was learning Chinese. We choose to sit outside on the covered patio where we shared a charcuteria and bottle of wine followed by Irish coffee with Jameson whiskey.
Saturday, we set out to explore with a plan to meet up with Helen, Laura and Tammy later. Our first stop was the favorite store of chef and author Ina Garten: E. Dehillerin. The store was reputed to have everything a fine chef could want, so Patty went in to explore and I went next door for a latte. Patty was not impressed with the store so she came out and also had a latte. It began to rain more as we continued to explore. There were big crowds at the Louvre as we passed by the Pyramid and the Arc de Triomphe de Carousel at the entrance to Jardin des Tuileries.
We planned to walk the length of the Jardin and then visit the Musee de L'Orangerie at the far end - but the rain began to come down in torrents. We found shelter under our umbrellas and the trees, and the line into the Musee was outside the building - they were too full to let others in. So we waited for the rain to ease and then walked back on the other side of the Jardin until we found a bagel shop for a lunch of bagel sandwiches and sweet desserts.
We passed by several stores where we saw fish shoes that made us think of Megan and another store with white flowers that made us think of Martha.
We went back to our hotel for a rest, then walked to the apartment where Helen, Laura and Tammy were staying - we enjoyed a delightful gathering with light foods, snacks and wine. Then we went out to watch the nightly lighting of the Eiffel Tower - each hour until 1:00 a.m., in addition to the searchlight at the top and the regular lights, the tower is lit with twinkling lights. We got to the river where we could see the twinkling lights which lasts for five minutes at the top of each hour.
Then we returned to our hotel, after having walked 11.5 miles in spite of all the rain.
Friday afternoon, Patty and I visited the Jardin des Plantes, a very nice garden and zoo. We did not go into the zoo but there was an area outside the zoo where they have wallabys.
It was a rainy afternoon with showers on and off - but it was not cold. So we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at the very nice restaurant at the Jardin des Plantes.
We passed by several stores where we saw fish shoes that made us think of Megan and another store with white flowers that made us think of Martha.
We went back to our hotel for a rest, then walked to the apartment where Helen, Laura and Tammy were staying - we enjoyed a delightful gathering with light foods, snacks and wine. Then we went out to watch the nightly lighting of the Eiffel Tower - each hour until 1:00 a.m., in addition to the searchlight at the top and the regular lights, the tower is lit with twinkling lights. We got to the river where we could see the twinkling lights which lasts for five minutes at the top of each hour.
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