Au Revoir Paris!

We spend our last day just being in the city. In the early morning, the sun was rising. The city has a really alluring quality as it awakes. The streets are sleepy and quiet. The river is calm with gentle ripples unlike mid day when boats will churn the waters. The light is pale gold and the air feels crisp. We walk along the river across the bridge. Before long we find our way to the Promenade Plantee.

The promenade is nearly five kilometers long following the Old Vincennes railway. It is a secret garden high above the 12th arrondissement. Arches of vines, flowering shrubs, trellises with roses or other climbing varieties line the walkway making it an enchanting space. We climb the stairs to join the early risers , runners, walkers greeting the day. The sun is up and the sky is no longer pale gold but is blue with fluffy white clouds. The street below is beginning to fill as children head to school, parents head to work. Businesses open and the pace of life ramps up. We have walked much further than we planned enjoying the morning. Luckily we had our travel cards in our pockets and we hopped a bus back to our apartment to really begin our day.

We have exhausted our museum ardor and have some last minute gifts to gather, so we head out to the Galleries des Lafayette, the premier of department stores looking out at the Paris Opera House and nearly as grand.

As you enter the store crystal like cosmetic counters are filled with luxurious perfumes and moisturizers, cosmetics of all kinds. In the center of the space there is an airiness. Looking up the space soars up 5 stories to a majestic dome with a glimpse onto each floor leading up to the dome. We take the escalator to the 4 th floor. There is a lucite cat walk that juts out to the center of the open space . Like a dock stretching into an invisible lake, the walkway allows shoppers to experience the grandeur of the store, a vista of commerce to be admired. The little girls who step out in our grouping strut like high fashion models to the end. Adults snap pictures and oooh and ahhh( others cautiously venture out scaling the rail and glancing furtively down to the cosmetic counters four floors below.

The epic views continue going up to the rooftop where a thick glass wall surrounds the edge of the building. Looking one way off to the Pantheon, over to Notre Dame, to the Invalides, out to beyond the outskirts of the city. The outdoor space usually reserved for dining is under construction, so with our photo opts done, head back down.

We gave a recommendation for lunch from our new friend Patrick (see earlier blog posting). It is not too far, so we meander the twisting streets through hidden alleyways and covered shopping galleries to find the Comptoir de Gastronomie.

The Comptoir de Gastronomie is both gourmet shop and restaurant bar. It has a old world look as wooden bookcase-like shelves line the walls filled with glass jars and ornately labeled cans of pate, foi gras, French honey, and cognac. Bottles of Cote de Rhône’s, Bordeaux, and Pinot noir are reached by climbing the ladder that slides along.

The bar to the right is full. The restaurant is much smaller than we imagined, but is turning over as a few customers have just finished their lunch. We are seated in the window and are handed the menu, a cornucopia of duck dishes with the occasional veal dish.

While the past few days we have had wonderful meals, this may exceed them all. The food is delicious. Cooked perfectly, divinely seasoned. We linger over a bottle of Cote de Rhône, enjoying the patrons who come on for lunch. We will definitely browse the shelves before we leave.

The evening is so lovely. After a few cold, damp days, the sky is clear and the moon is bright, the evening air is mild. We start out to walk to a cafe nearby and end up walking over six miles to the Eiffel Tower! Boats on the Seine, warm lights on the bridges, monuments backlit. See the magic. The tower twinkles a farewell. Au revoir Paris!