We got off to a late start, so wandered around some more, then had lunch at a great little place on the corner of rue St. Paul and Rue Saint Antione. While walking around, we checked out, but did not explore, Place de Voges and Hotel Sully. We than did a walking tour around the Ile St. Louis (which is mostly shops) and had some great ice cream at Berthiollon's. On the way, we saw the gardens at Hotel de Sens. Paris is a big city with lots of noise and traffic. The cars whiz by at a high speed (Paris drivers are known for their aggressiveness) and the scooters are loud and obnoxious. The number of scooters is amazing. With gas prices so high and parking spaces at a premium, it seems like they make a lot of sense. People-watching is lots of fun. Our section of town, the Marais, is great for that. Every English language bookstore we see has an OBAMA sticker in the window; he is so popular here that if the French could vote, he'd win in a landslide.
Paris is expensive. Of course large cities tend to be so. The last time we were in Europe, the Euro was at $0.96. If it were that today, most prices would be OK to high. But at $1.60 they are VERY high.
The debit card we've been using all along that has almost melted from overuse bit the dust today. I tried to get some cash and it was rejected. I called Schwab and was told that a $200 charge was attempted in Florida and they shut the card down. Fortunately, we have a debit card on another account, so a disaster was avoided.
1 comment:
Okay, you guys; now I'm officially envious. The Marais is probably my favorite part of Paris. Jerry's daughter booked us into the Hotel Palais de la Reine on the Place de Vosges. It turned out to be outrageously expensive (with a name like that, you can imagine), but the memory of those in-room petits dejeuners and the all-marble salle de bain is still vivid after all these years. So I guess it was worth it!
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