Oct 18 - Strolling through Paris

We had our standard meat and cheese on a baguette lunch and watched the long queue of people waiting to get into Sainte-Chapelle. It’s right beside the Supreme Court so security measures to get in are very, very strict. Doug got to donate one of his trusty Swiss Army knives last time we were here.

Our next stop was the Louvre, the world’s largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris. The Louvre hosts well over 10 million visitors per year. We toured it (did the “best of” including seeing the Mona Lisa) in 2015, so we were not there to see the exhibits, but to use the washrooms and to marvel at The Pyramid that dominates the courtyard. It covers the ticket and washroom and cloakroom areas but floods the areas with light. (It was worth going through security to be able to get inside.) The design was radical, to say the least, and shocked the legions of traditionalists who were aghast, but attendance at the museum has almost doubled since the completion of the Pyramid, so objections have pretty much died out.

It had turned into a lovely, warm sunny day. What a treat to have such a nice day for our last day in Paris. We strolled thought the Jardin des Tuileries, located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde. The entrance to the gardens is through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - it’s a mini version of the big one that we visited on Monday. There is a lovely pond in the gardens ringed with green metal chairs. These two walking warriors pulled up two of them and sat in the glorious sunshine for a while.

We realized that there was a continuation of a sculpture exhibition that we had seen yesterday near the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. It is sponsored by FIAC - Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain. There were some cool ones and some really ugly ones. Doug and I think we can create something good out the bits and pieces he has in the barn.

We sauntered on home via a different route than what we took this morning. Stopped at another little bakery that we have found and got afternoon treats. My count for the day - 21,420 steps for 9.1 miles. Probably not enough to offset the treats. Gym on Monday morning.

I booked an Uber ride for our transit to the airport tomorrow morning - this will be our first time using Uber. Did the check in for our flight which is at 10:45 a.m. tomorrow.

We are splurging and going out for dinner tonight for the first, last and only time for this Paris visit. There is a nice little Bistro à Pizza opposite the hotel. Talked to a nice couple from Waterloo who were sitting out there last night - they highly recommended the pizza.

Had a lovely dinner. The bistro has only been open for 6 weeks. We had a nice chat with the owner. She sources locally-grown produce and ingredients as much as possible. The pizza was great - probably the best crust we've ever had. Did our last session of people watching in this lovely Rue Cler/Rue de Champs du Mars neighbourhood. We highly recommend it if you're visiting Paris.Read more