29 October - Notre Dame and walking around Paris in the afternoon

Nic and Astrid are still sick. Snuffly and gunky eyes. Hoping we get better soon as it's not much fun. We decided to go on a short morning walk to Notre Dame as it was on our sightseeing list.

 It's only a couple of kilometres from our apartment so was an easy walk down and across the river. We aren't overly into looking at Church's but it is a very very impressive piece of architecture. The amount of detail in the stone work, internal and external and the statues and stained glass is mind blowing.

 We enjoyed a short walk around inside and managed to get a few good photos before Miss A decided she had enough, meaning there was no point going up the towers. We had a walk around the outside, avoiding the throngs of tourists and then headed for some morning tea.

 We were suckered in by the smell of freshly cooking crepes at a street vendor outside a cafe. At about half the price for takeaway we grabbed a couple of crepes and some takeaway coffee and sat on a park bench on a bridge over the Seine. The was the quintessential Parisian experience. Crepes overlooking the Seine, with an accordion player in the background. For the record, Astrid is not a huge fan of lemon and sugar crepes but nuttella and banana were a winner. These crepes were much more delicious than the ones we had a couple of weeks ago near the Moulin Rouge!

 We headed to the BHV shopping centre to get a replacement pair of gloves for me, as mine had gone missing while chasing a small child's mittens around Zurich Zoo. We happened upon a great sale and got gloves cheaply and a whole heap of clothes for Astrid. Not everything we like was on sale but we managed to score a few bargains. Home for our baguette and cheese lunch (how nice it is to eat cheaply at lunch times again) and Astrid's sleep.

 In the afternoon it was nice weather so we headed down to the Louvre to see it at a different time of day. Paris has 27 million visitors a year. Sometimes you hardly notice the tourists other times you seem to find all of them. The area around the Louvre and the Jardin Des Tuileries was full of tourists this afternoon. It was a different experience to when we were last there in the early morning and it was deserted. We wandered around and got some photos and generally avoided the throng of hawkers (who weren't there when you are there pre-dawn).

 We then wandered down to the park adjacent to the Louvre, Jaridn Des Tuileries, as it was also pre-dawn last time we were there. There were kids out sailing boats on the pond today and ducks to look at in the ponds. Astrid had a good run around and was being quite cute, and got a few French people to come and kiss her hand. Always the charmer!  We only got to explore about half the park as it was getting close to dinner time.

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We headed back along the Seine and it was a lovely evening so we grabbed a few snaps of Paris in the late afternoon.


Tonight's dessert was a Citron Tart we had been eyeing off for awhile. It was delicious and lived up to our expectations, which are getting increasingly higher.