Two Days in Paris

The McFrothys have separated!  Oh, don't worry, not like that.  Chad and I said a tearful goodbye at the Voltaire Metro station this morning (okay, the tears were mine, not his) as he left to catch his flight to Vancouver.  It is incredible to think that our 10 weeks in Europe and Turkey has flown by so quickly.  We capped it off with a lovely two days in Paris - not seeing any of the major sights, just picnicking and exploring.  

We started Sunday at the market Marche Bastille near our hotel - it's a great open air market that runs on Sundays and Thursdays.  Some of the ingredients above will later star in our picnic lunch.

Next up, a visit to the lovely Jardin du Luxembourg. It was jam packed with locals and tourists on a sunny Paris Sunday.

After a bit of a wander through the Latin Quarter, we stopped in the Jardin du Plantes for our picnic lunch.  Those strawberries beside me cost 5 Euros at the market (we're sure not in Turkey anymore!!!) and were worth every penny.  As was the wine... and the bread... and the cheese...  I'll confess that we had to stop at our hotel for an afternoon nap after drinking the bottle of wine at lunch.  We spent the rest of the day wandering the Seine, exploring the Marais, and soaking it all in.

French line dancers along the Seine.

Pont de l'Archeveche - couples attach a lock to the bridge and then throw the key into the river to signify their undying love.  We didn't leave a lock, but it was cool to look at what people had written on theirs.  Apparently, many couples come to Paris to celebrate wedding anniversaries - maybe that will be us in 20 years!

Centre Pompideau - the guts of the building are on the outside instead of the inside.

L'As du Felafel.  Best. Falafel. Ever.  Especially when eaten alongside the Seine.

Day two was more of the same, and since the post is already extremely picture heavy I'll just leave you with a few more shots.

Morning cafe au lait and croissant.

We will definitely (eventually!) have to come back and get jobs now, as we spent some of our future earnings in the Bordeauxteque at Galleries Lafayette.

Picnic in the park outside the Louvre, overseen by the Eiffel Tower, including some macaroons for Chad.

Famous Berthillon ice cream.  The left is dark chocolate, the right is rhubarb.

You didn't really think we would come to Paris and not go to a beer bar, did you?  We sought out some biere de garde at Au Trappiste on Rue St-Denis - delicious, and Chad advises that it went particularly well with his moules frites.

Street jazz on the the Ile St-Louis.

How lucky am I that I have six more nights in this amazing city!?