Last full day in Paris

We are getting sad to think that this French immersion is almost at an end. Today we had nothing planned, except a dinner at night at a small restaurant Amr had read about on Ile St Louis. It was still rainy this morning - but when I say rainy, for yesterday and today, it is very light, sometimes just showery, and hasn’t hindered us at all, or got us wet. Rainproof jackets were all that was needed, not umbrellas. And in the afternoon it cleared up, and will stay clear in the morning till about midday when the prediction is that it will rain all afternoon as we go to the airport.

So after breakfast we decided to walk along the viaduct in the other direction and realised what a long and beautiful walkway this is. Landscaped with trees and gardens, must be an ex railway line as it goes through tunnels - very short, just under roads - or over roads…anyway that was fun and we ended up where we’d never been before and got a metro back to Opera and planned to have a visit in the gorgeous Garnier opera building, as we’d seen signs that you could visit every day between certain times, and there was a notice saying that there was an “exceptional closing” this Sat, Sun and Mon, so that plan was off. We walked along the boulevards, into some of the arcades, had a light lunch and Amr and I decided to see the Bond movie that was on - original version with French subtitles…perfect. Omnia was happy to potter off shopping. For the first time they questioned our covid pass at the cinema, said did we have also photo ID, which we didn’t. After a bit of carry on she let us in, but first time in over 2 months we’ve had any problem. Enjoyed the movie…mad as always, but the “original” version didn’t include even the English title at the beginning! And it was funny as at the beginning, without giving anything away, the movie starts with a bit of French dialogue (which of course in this case didn’t have English subtitles) and we wondered if we were in the wrong movie for a brief time! After the movie we walked round the Palais Royal and the gardens there, and got the metro back to have a pause before we went out for dinner.

Had a really lovely last night dinner. Small place that seemed always full - as a table emptied it was quickly filled. Basic well done French food. For a French farewell I had duck with a honey and grape sauce with veg, and a crème brûlée…yum…Amr had rabbit and Omnia had fish…all happy. Walked back along the river, lovely evening, quite mild and clear. Daylight saving ends tonight, so it’s not really 11.30 now - only 10.30!Read more