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Day three in Paris

Well guess I will talk about today then yesterday! I slept in a bit this morning which was good and after my shower I headed off to the local boulangerie - this time I had a cafe au lait and a suisse pain. oh my. we are talking pastry with bits of chocolate in...my my my. Feeling fortified I headed off to the metro and the St Michel metro stop. From there I (sort of) did a walk from the book Simon loaned me - this was of the Latin Quarter. It is named this as it was very academic a few centuries back and the spoken word was Latin. Anyway it was very interesting - wandered down all sorts of narrow cobblestone streets and saw the house where the fellow who invented the guillitone lived...also saw the oldest cafe in the world - or so they say. But I wasn't dressed for the occasion so I carried on - one of the entrees was "cooked calf's head" just like it was done back in the 1600's. Uh...no thanks. I have wanted to explore more of the left bank so am happy I did a bit of it anyway. I saw the Sorbonne - university of Paris and also wandered up to the Pantheon which was built as a church originally. Victor Hugo is buried here but I did not go in. I did not visit a museum at all as the lines were just too long - I guess I am too impatient. I would rather be out exploring and I have seen the museums before - I am sure the Mona Lisa still looks the same since I last saw her in 1999. I had lunch at a creperie - ham, cheese and mushroom - with a glass of wine. I asked for tap water and like the restaurant yesterday they bring it in a little jug. I love that. I went into a wonderful pateserrie with all sorts of sweets. I bought two tiny meringues - one was raspberry with chocolate filling and the other chocolate with chocolate filling - I saved them and just finished them with a cup of tea before I started this blog. Turns out they were giving out free ones so I had an apricot with cream inside there and then. Ooo la la is all I can say. You can buy them in packages but they would never make them home I am afraid! They are very fragile as well. I then took the metro over to Galeries LaFayette which is like Harrods - very high end. One thing - they don't charge for their loos like Harrods does! But the main reason I went was to see the Xmas tree and the galleries in the store which were beautiful. The window displays were cute too - the theme was a Rock and Roll Christmas. The store was packed so I got out of there as soon as possible. The next stop on the metro was near Isle St. Louis which is an island in the centre of Paris - in the middle of the Seine. I walked around for a couple of hours and enjoyed it thoroughly. I read a Patricia Cornwell novel set there and ever since I read it I have been wanting to see it. I treated myself to a double scoop of the famous Berthillon ice cream - cherry/plum and chocolate. Oh my. It was delicious. Very tiny scoops (trust me) but not a tiny price - sometimes you just have to treat yourself. The place was packed to the rafters - I would hate to see it in July! Speaking of which it was dull and drizzled at times all day -but it wasn't cold. I then took the metro back here - picked up a baguette with ham, cheese, egg etc in it for a bit later and some pastries for the morning. I am not sure what is open tomorrow so decided to have breakfast here for a change.
All being well I will head over to Montmartre for the New Years Eve fireworks - being as I haven't even been to Montmartre this trip and it's very close it should be interesting. It's on tomorrow's itinerary.
There is just so much to see in this city that four days is not enough unless you run around like a mad thing and I'd rather take things at a slower pace and enjoy. April in Paris someday perhaps?

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