A night to remember

The main event today was a dinner cruise on Le Calife in the evening. We didn't have too many things that we still wanted to see, so we decided to fill the morning with a walk to the Louvre, Tuilleries, and Place de la Concorde. On the way, we came across Saint Eustach Church in Les Halles, and since the door was open and there was no queue, we wandered in for a look. It was magnificent inside, with columns that definitely stretched up closer to God than most. You can have your queue for Notre Dame, this is apparently the second largest church in Paris behind Notre Dame (it was plan B for Easter services when Notre Dame had the fire) and I challenge anyone to say it isn't just as impressive and there were only about 6 people in it! It even featured a curious-looking modern sculpture, something we hadn't seen elsewhere.

When we got to the Louvre, we wondered where the queue was (surely we weren't the only people coming to the Louvre today?). The Louvre (and most galleries in Paris apparently which, now I think about it, I remember from my last visit) is open daily, except Tuesdays (so, not daily then). We hadn't planned to go in, so we just had a little chuckle at ourselves and continued on our way through the Tuilleries, past Musée de l'Orangerie (also closed on a Tuesday which we thought was a missed opportunity on their part), Place de la Concorde, and up to Pont Alexandre III. From there we got the Metro back to Le Marais and our apartment for a bit of a cook up of our uneaten food (eggs, smoked salmon, cheese, ham, bread) for lunch and to relax before our night out.

After mastering the Metro in the afternoon, we decided to take the Metro to our cruise. First stop was a quick drink with Guillame next door. I made the rooky error of asking for a sparkling wine and, in what I think is the quote of the holiday, he looked at me sternly and said, "No. We do not have sparkling wine. You are in France.". So, Prosecco it was, I was too scared to ask for champagne in case I made another faux pas!

We got to where Le Calife departed from too early, and it was chilly, so the second stop was a very French cafe nearby, Les Beaux Arts, for a second pre-dinner drink. We then boarded the boat which is a lovely old barge and were seated in what we were told was the Captain's Table, the one at the front with unobstructed views of the river ahead, it was amazing We were seated next to a table of 6 Americans who we struck up a conversation with, only to be told by the waitress that one of the other guests had asked them to keep their voices down before we'd even left the dock (pretty sure it wasn't us, we were just their partners in crime but they were very good-humoured about it). So, from then on it was inside voices only 🤫.

We chose Le Calife on the Hatchard's recommendation, and, true to their word, it was a very special evening. We spent 2 hours gliding by Paris by night, having a lovely meal and more (actual) champagne and wine, culminating in a close-up view of the sparkling Eiffel Tower. It was certainly a highlight of the trip.Read more