I wish that I had kept a journal of everything we did and didn���t do. As it is, I am going from memory, which isn���t quite so reliable at my age.
On Day 2, we got a late start which I attribute to jet lag. We had the 8 euro breakfast at the hotel, which consisted of a croissant, a small baguette, some jams, and either coffee or tea. I think that these hotel breakfasts are simply not worth the money. We generally skipped the breakfasts from that point on, and because we were not early risers, lunch was never very far away. We headed off on foot to the Louvre, which is a mandatory visit for my wife every time we visit Paris. Afterwards, we had lunch nearby at Cafe Ruc, 159 rue Saint Honore (01 42 60 97 54). It is not an inexpensive place to dine, but I had a superb sole meuniere. This restaurant was one of many that I garnered from recommendations given on TA, and I want to thank everyone for their opinions and suggestions. As we found to be still typical, second hand smoke is still a problem in most restaurants, and my wife is very sensitive to this. It was a problem at Cafe Ruc, and I will note this on my future comments as well. In some restaurants they have non-[chain]smoking areas, usually in the less desirable seating areas. However, the overall situation does seem to be improving, albeit very slowly, based on our prior experiences.
After lunch, we walked down the Right Bank of the Seine to Notre Dame, sat in the little park behind the church for a while, and then just meandered, exploring little back streets and pocket parks. There is an excellent little park directly South of the Notre Dame on the Left Bank (across the Seine), which affords a wonderful view of the Notre Dame across the Seine. It is a tiny oasis of tranquility amid all the hustle and bustle. Wish I could remember the name. Maybe one of the locals on this board could help out. Later that evening, we decided to try out one of the recommendations seen on the forum, Restaurant au Moulin a Vent, 20 rue de Fosse-Saint Bernard, because it was within a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We wandered down past the Mercedes car dealership, numerous tagged walls, and darkened shops, only to find that the restaurant had been closed for the entire week. We weren���t crazy about the atmosphere of the neighborhood anyway, so we walked back up the hill and found a little caf�� to grab a bite around 9pm. The name escapes me because the food was only so-so. You will notice during these posts that we did not attempt to see a laundry list of sights, but rather, to capture the spirit and essence of the city by walking it, and by going wherever the whim led us. A frivolous waste of time that we indulged in unabashedly.
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The little park you mentioned is the Square Rene Viviani. It is indeed a tranquil oasis. Even when the sidewalk outside is teeming with throngs of toiurists, few of them ever seem to step inside the little park right next to them...
Which is a shame I suppose because it has one of the best views there is of Notre Dame - and incidentally also has what is reputedly the oldest tree in paris within it.
I am enjoying your report. Thank you.
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As a lot of you have problems with smoke in restaurants, I found a website that provides a list of non smoking restaurants in paris :
http://www.droit-air-pur.com/restoparis.htm
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Yes Square Viviani, did you see the oldest tree in Paris? Near the small church? With concrete in its trunk cause it%26#39;s so old??
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Next time I%26#39;m taking you guys with me! :) Thanks for the info. I wasn%26#39;t aware of the oldest tree, but will check it out upon my return. (I like to think optomistically!)
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