Day 7 - Paris

Flânez - the art of wandering aimlessly, on purpose. Parisian Sundays are the day of the flaneur; the idle wanderer; for ‘doing nothing’ in particular, but moving through the city, observing all it has to offer that we perhaps don’t have time to notice during the week.

After a delicious breakfast of croissants, melon, hard-boiled eggs, coffee and orange juice, provided by our host, we met up with Karina and her family at their hotel.

To my surprise, there are scallop shells on our street, Rue Saint Martin. The Paris camino is obviously much less bucolic and less proper to spiritual meditation than most of the Pilgrim's Roads to Santiago de Compostela, but it crosses interesting neighborhoods and historic sites.

The Saint James tower (Tour Saint Jacques) is the historic meeting point for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela from Paris. It is the former bell tower of the Church of Saint-Jacques de la Boucherie that was destroyed in the French Revolution.

We stopped to shop for picnic supplies — wine, meat, cheese and fresh bread — before taking the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We found the perfect spot at Champ de Mars to enjoy our picnic. The best view and no crowds.

After lunch, Carly and I hopped on the TOOT Bus for a sightseeing tour around Paris. We got off the bus at 5:50 p.m., just in time to hear the bells of Notre-Dame ringing.

From there, we walked back to our B&B to freshen up before dinner. By this point, we were pretty tired, so we decided not to venture too far. Luckily, there are lots of restaurants close by.

We settled on Le Cirque, where I had the Le Clown cocktail along with a Croque Monsieur. Carly had a Margarita and Vodka Penne (which ended up being plain red sauce, disappointing)Read more