SeaTac airport is a hub for Alaska and Delta, so we use them a lot. To beef up our mileage plan, we looked for a partner for this trip and picked British Airways. The flight and service were very nice, and we were treated to some charming language: My husband has been working the word dodgy into routine conversation and can be heard cautioning that the tea is ever so hot.

Unfortunately, British doesn't offer a non-stop to Paris from Seattle, so we had a connection in London Heathrow. But on the up side, we arrived in the evening with not too much time to try to stay awake to get on the time zone.

I had read tips on Reddit about avoiding rideshares and taking a taxi from the cab stand for a flat rate fare of about maybe €60–€80 depending on time of day. I was confused when the driver turned on the meter, but the fare ended up in that range anyway. I guess it's good they used the meter; in some places shady drivers won't use it and will just make up the price once you arrive.

We chose the Meliá Paris Vendôme for its proximity to many sights on our list and also to a few different metro lines. Neither of us speaks French but somehow, I guess habit from our last big trip, we ended up transacting the check-in in Spanish.

Since we were planning to stay in this hotel for a week, we took a room with some extra space and a loveseat. I couldn't figure out the layout from the photos, and when we got to the room, we thought it was a little awkward. The room turned a corner — many apartments and hotels in European cities are built around a central open area so there are windows on the interior walls. Our room split at the entry, with the sleeping area and bath straight ahead and a sitting area to the left. It was the inside corner, so not any sort of view.

The bed and sleeping area and the bathroom were actually pretty nice. The bathroom had a walk-in shower and a tub with a shower. Unfortunately the walk-in shower door let a lot of water out onto the floor. The tub shower had the typical European half-door (why??) and also left the floor wet. And there was not space to hang two towels. But the bed was really comfy and big.

Several hotels we have stayed in, and also our bathroom at home, have a small separate room for the toilet. This is very nice when you are sharing among multiple people. However, in this case, the little toilet room was actually right at the front of the room, between the entry and a closet. So you would have to cross the bedroom to get to the sink to wash your hands — not ideal, especially at night in the dark. And it was small! Like, you could touch the walls with your elbows, and your knees were almost at the door.

Another oddity of the layout was the sitting area. It was very narrow, with a desk on the left wall adjacent to the door, a loveseat filling most of the end wall, and then a window and a chest with tv against the wall facing the door. We had to pull this somewhat-heavy table out in order to sit on the loveseat and watch our football game. The loveseat itself was funny as well. The seat was not flat, like it was maybe a pull-out that had been put away badly (we did not investigate), and it was covered in a weird sort of stretchy, vinyl-ly stuff that I didn't really like to touch. I just covered it with a spare blanket.

But, the room provided closet space for hanging up clothes and backpacks and floor and counter space for spreading out suitcases and toiletries. The staff and location were great so overall this was a positive experience.

That first night in Paris, we were lucky that it was close to bedtime by the time we got set up in our room. Rather than stumbling around in a daze, we just went straight to the hotel bar to try some wine. They were about to close, so the bartender set us up in a seating area of the lobby and brought us our drinks and some snacks. He and his colleague were both very friendly and accommodating.

Overall we had a great start to the trip. We turned in, slept well, and were ready to start our first day as Paris tourists.

Welcome to our first full day in Paris!

Thanks to business class travel and an evening arrival, we were both feeling pretty good and ready to explore on our first morning. We were up at a reasonable time and enjoyed a little coffee and tea in the room as we got ourselves ready. The weather was cool and breezy, but not too bad. We wandered out to find some breakfast, and stopped at a cafe on Rue de Rivoli.

Rivoli is a main thoroughfare paralleling the Tuileries Garden and the Seine River. There are shops, hotels, and cafes all along this stretch, where wide arcades offer some protection from the weather. We spotted a menu board that looked good and grabbed a tiny table outside. We would get used to these tiny, sidewalk tables all over Paris, and we love the idea! I don't recall the place or what we ate, but it was pretty good, especially the coffee. We enjoyed watching the varied modes of commuting and deliveries whiz by — lots of electric bikes and scooters, manual bikes, buses, trucks of various sizes and shapes, and relatively fewer cars. But plenty of taxis.

Pont Alexandre III

To begin our sightseeing, we headed past Place de la Concorde, where there were some indecipherable structures being built (we will revisit this later). We continued along the Seine to Pont Alexander III. From there, we spotted the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and we crossed the street to check out a statue shown on our map, which turned out to be of Winston Churchill looking resolute in his trenchcoat. As we returned to the bridge, we took care to avoid the cars and bicycles coming and going in various directions. I think we may have had a little jet-lag confusion despite the good night's sleep.

Hôtel des Invalides

The avenue crossing the bridge makes a grand entry to Hôtel des Invalides, the military museum and burial site of Napoleon. The street was flanked by fields of bright grass, but we noticed signs warning to stay out, which is probably how they retain their good looks. There was not much of a line to enter but, there was a security check, and we saw that some entry gates were closed off.

We had already bought our Paris Museum Pass online and set the apps up on our phones. Now was the test to make sure they worked, which fortunately they did. The pass is nice in that it activates upon first use.

We made our way to the main building entry and through to the great courtyard. We were mainly here to see Napoleon's tomb but we weren't sure what to expect or where to go. We followed signs toward the rear of the building, not stopping to visit any exhibits but instead just reading the posters along the colonnade. The buildings and grounds were impressive, and I read that the complex once housed 4,000 people in barracks, hospice, hospital, convent, and factory. Today the compound primarily operates as a museum but it also still serves as hospital and retirement home for veterans.

We arrived at the rear of the main building, trying to find Napoleon's tomb. We did not realize that we needed to leave the museum and then enter the gilt-domed church from the outside. But once inside, we took in the gorgeous church. There were chapels surrounding the main circular area. Each contained the tomb of a military, royal, church or civic leader. All were done in different stone in different styles. It was surprisingly uncrowded, so there was plenty of time to read inscriptions, admire the intricate stonework, and ponder life.

We spent some moments locating the stairs down to Napoleon's tomb, which we could see from above in the center of the church. The tomb, to me, seemed simple but weighty. The true embellishments, in my opinion, were found in the floor of the circular chamber, which appeared vividly painted but on closer look proved to be colorful, inlaid stone, where the artist used variations in color and striations to create realistic depth — I had to reach down and run my fingers across it to assure myself that it really was smooth and flat. I also quite appreciated the curved stairway down to the lower level, with its historical artifacts. It felt very final.

We had planned to continue our walking tour by exiting from the southeast corner of the Invalides grounds and heading to Musée Rodin. However, the grounds are protected by a moat and while there is one exit at that end, it was not open and we only jokingly considered jumping the gate.

We walked through the main courtyard along the opposite arcade and took a peek into the Cathedral of Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, the soldiers' church, that adjoins the church of the tombs but is now separated by a glass wall. It's what you would think of as a "working" church, with pews, altar, etc. It was bright and airy and the natural light coming through the glass from the Church of the Dome gave an interesting and pleasant aspect behind the altar's cross.

On our way out we also passed by some soldiers being drilled on lifting and carrying something together — unfortunately it looked like it might have been a pallbearers' rehearsal.

Musée Rodin

So, we left the way we came in and trekked the extra distance to the Musée Rodin. We included this museum on this first morning because it was high on our things-not-to-miss list. Also, a lot of it is outside and the weather forecast for that morning was one of the better outlooks for the week. In reality, we were quite lucky with the weather on our whole trip.

Rodin's piece, The Thinker, is widely recognized, but with the audio tour of the museum, we learned more about this work and others, including oil and watercolor paintings and sketches, and his life in general. After seeing many independent studies and sculptures as we followed the museum path, we headed outside to the gardens where we encountered the enormous and dramatic The Gates of Hell. This work illustrated Dante's Inferno, where you see Dante as the Thinker at the top, pondering the condition of Man. We saw other non-familiar elements in the Gates, such as The Three Shades and Ugolino and His Children. I was particularly moved by The Burghers of Calais, with so much weight, anguish, despair, resignation, and resolve.

For lunch we had wanted to go to La Fontaine de Mars, recommended by a friend who has the good fortune to travel to Paris for work. But I checked their website ahead of time and saw that they would be closed. By this point we were bordering on hangry so we went to the Cafe du Musée just across from the museum. We each had the famous croque monsieur sandwich. You don't need to hurry to try this classic the first time you see it because it will be on nearly every cafe menu you encounter, at least in the touristy areas. These were very good, but as you can imagine, were expensive this close to a major tourist attraction.

While we were sitting outside facing the street, we observed a person, possibly homeless, apparently passed out on the sidewalk. He didn't move and I wondered if I should go see if he was alive or not. But I felt ill-equipped to help, in a strange city where I don't even speak the language, so guiltily did nothing. I do think even some police had passed by (not sure I remember that correctly) and didn't act, so maybe he was a "regular".

Place de la Concorde

As we finished our lunch (and yes, French French fries are better!), the chill wind picked up and it started to rain. We cut short the rest of the walking tour plan and hoofed it back. By the time we reached Place de la Concorde the rain had stopped so we took time to check out the installation we had seen in the morning. They were in the process of setting up an art and photo exhibit so we walked through a bit of it that was already up. We saw a photo display of kids' lives in the format of a photo of child plus their bedroom and a brief bio. They were from all over the world, including the privileged and the destitute. One photo was of a little boy in Ghana whose home had maids, gym, theater, pools, everything you could wish; another showed a couch, outdoors, in Rio, the "home" of a 9-year-old, glue-sniffing thief who saw his family "on occasion".

Hôtel de la Marine

We also popped into the nearby Hôtel de la Marine, which was hosting a free-entry exhibit for Paris Design Week. It was billed as a labyrinth, which I guess it was. There was a maze set up of wire frames and fabric walls, with a couple little alcoves inside. Overall I wasn't really sure what was the point, except maybe I was supposed to be admiring and appreciating the fabrics as I walked through. Which I did. Anyway, it was free and something to see. I had looked up other Design Week events during planning and they seemed much more geared to industry than tourism, which I suppose makes sense.

We did not take time to tour the rest of the building that once housed the French Naval staff but now opens its elaborate, 18th-century apartments and hosts changing exhibits and events. There was a cooking demonstration that looked interesting, but you can read later about the cooking class we opted for instead. Museum entry is not free. I believe it was in the museum pass but required timed entry reservation.

Our evening plan was to walk around Église Saint-Eustache, have a nice dinner, then join a Seine River cruise. I couldn't get the dinner reservation time that I had hoped, and accepted one that was a half-hour later. It would be tight to make the cruise, the last of the day, whose dock was a 20-minute walk away, so I left it in the plan but did not purchase tickets in advance.

Saint-Eustache was on our itinerary for the exterior architecture, which the Wikipedia article describes as Flamboyant Gothic. I mean, you have to see some flying buttresses when in Paris, right? But while I was looking up some details about the church, I stumbled on this website: how did I not know that cathedral concerts with light shows was a thing? This is going on the list for the next visit, for sure.

À l'Épi d'Or

We were running a little late walking out to dinner so we had to put off Saint-Eustache for another time. We went straight to À l'Épi d'Or. This was one of many dining experiences I found through the Michelin Guide. Many of its "listed" (as opposed to "starred") restaurants are quite affordable. This restaurant was noted for its traditional fare and vintage dining room. The menu lists typical Parisian dishes and also sports a daily rotating 2- or 3-course meal. After pondering the menu and discussing how hungry we were, we both opted for the daily 2 course dinner, foregoing dessert.

The Thursday menu opened with melon and jambon with some sort of cream and fresh basil and oregano. Terrific! The jambon, we were told, was from France but the server telling us this didn't seem too comfortable with English so we didn't get more detail. In the US we are quite familiar with cured hams from Spain and Italy, but there are also many regions of France that are known for their own versions. What we had this evening was sliced thicker than packaged prosciutto, for comparison, and we thought it was much more flavorful.

The main course was pork. I don't recall what it was named on the menu but researching later, I believe it was pork terrine or pressé. It was a fatty cut like the shoulder, cooked (braised? confit?) and formed into a loaf then sliced. It came with a good, rich broth and roasted vegetables and it was also delicious. It was actually perfect for a fall day spent mostly outdoors.

Our dinner wrapped up a little sooner than expected, so we hoofed it across Pont Neuf to the west end of Île de la Cité to try to catch the river cruise. We were correct in that we arrived before the boat departed, but we were not the only couple being turned away from the sold-out attraction.

Notre-Dame Cathedral

Wandering the island was, however, something we wanted to do in this visit, so we walked its length and enjoyed the clear evening and city lights. The Cathedral of Notre Dame was surprisingly still open, and there was no line, so this was a great opportunity to visit. I know cathedral-visiting can get tiresome, but they all are special in their own ways despite also feeling like they run together after a while. But Notre Dame, after the fire restoration, is so white and bright inside. It's all new and clean with restored colors, and the lighting must be LED as it's daylight-toned. It feels light and airy and open. We get to experience it in a way that its original audience never could.

At the east end of the island, we descended to the riverside path for the walk back. There were some small groups of people gathered here and there for some illicit drinks. Some places smelled like pee. And there were plenty of the famous Paris rats scurrying about. Though there were staircases up to street level every couple blocks, we didn't feel unsafe and it wasn't really unpleasant, so we stayed on that path until a narrow part forced us back up.

Coming back to the hotel, we passed through one of the covered arcades. These are terrific in the daytime but tend to gather some homeless people at night. Generally we don't have any issues but on this walk, someone asked in French for money (I assume) and when we didn't comply, he actually got up and started yelling and following us for a bit before turning back to his spot on the sidewalk. We made our way back to the hotel, congratulating ourselves on not being attacked and on a masterful job of getting on the time zone so easily.

Galeries Lafayette Haussmann

Friday greeted us with better weather. We enjoyed our usual coffee and tea in the hotel room — we love the European fast-heating kettles and have since bought one to use at home as well. Then we headed out to get breakfast at the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, the original and still flagship location of an international department store chain.

Palais Garnier

Our walk took us past the Palais Garnier opera house. As I look now at the online pictures of it, I wish we had taken time to walk all the way around it and not just past the main entry. You can tour it as a museum, or you might book tickets to see a performance.

We arrived at the Galeries Lafayette a bit before its 9:30 opening time and saw a queue already formed up at the doors. We window-shopped on the street until we could enter the store.

Inside we found a treasure trove of boutiques of all sorts, which we later decided must be leased out to independent vendors. Or perhaps there is a mix of store departments and leased counters, unsure. It's fun to go into fancy stores like this and see what they have. This particular branch is roofed by a gorgeous, art nouveau glass dome over an atrium ringed by 7 shoppable floors (plus the basement!). I am not sure why I didn't take better pictures of it.

We had a hard time choosing a spot to eat but settled on a casual coffee shop toward the back of the store on the ground floor. There was not a lot of communication about how you were to collect or receive your food after ordering, but it all worked out. The coffee was great. We munched on quiche Lorraine and olive focaccia bread that did not skimp on the olive oil.

Bellies comfortable, we set off to wander the store. Another picture I should have snapped was of mounds of richly colored spices, but I did take one of surprisingly colorful salts. There were teas, cheeses, meats, and baked goods, plus clothing, housewares, and more. There were a couple wine shops, one tucked up in almost an attic space. There were multiple chocolate shops with the most fanciful creations. I wanted to get these for gifts, but knew they would not survive being carted about on our travels.

Église de la Sainte-Trinité

The goal of today's walking tour was Montmartre and we headed in that direction. The first highlighted spot along the path was the Église de la Sainte Trinité. It is fronted by a treed courtyard with fountain, that dips below street level and probably makes a nice respite from the traffic. The building itself was boarded up for restoration but was still interesting because the screens were drawn like the underlying edifice.

Moulin Rouge

The next destination was the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. I considered taking in a show here, as an iconic Parisian thing to do. But it was quite expensive and I balked. I expect it is worth it to go at least once.

We had a lunch reservation for 12:15 and we had some time to kill. The walking route was a little bit of a dud in terms of points of interest. But there is always something to see in Paris. The Moulin Rouge sits on a divided boulevard with a park-like median so we strolled along enjoying the shade on this warm day.

Montmartre Cemetery

We turned along Rue Caulaincourt and up the hill towards our restaurant, and found ourselves on a bridge crossing the Montmartre Cemetery. I do love history but I am not typically interested in cemeteries (despite having recently spent a very interesting afternoon in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington DC), but we decided to walk around and see it. There is another cemetery that is popular with American tourists, the Père Lachaise, where Jim Morrison and a host of other famous people are buried. It didn't make our itinerary either.

But I'm glad we stopped. We spent a fair amount of time there on a gorgeous fall day. It was oddly relaxing, in the quiet with the stillness of the marble and the feeling of finality. Not to be a downer, but it does make you think about life and what you care about, and all the people recently or long gone who had lives and people that cared about them. Eventually, we are all the same.

Le Matré

The lunch reservation was at Le Matre, a tiny spot one street down from the very popular Rue des Abbesses. Our table was adjacent to the giant, open front window and it was a beautiful day to try some local beer and cider.

We shared a salad of thinly sliced raw mushroom in lightly creamy dressing, fresh tarragon and tiny cubes of ham. I would never have thought to make a salad like this but you can be sure I will try to replicate it.

My husband's selection for the main course was pork pluma — a cut we learned about in Spain last year — with cubed zucchini. All was fresh and expertly prepared, along with friendly, casual service.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed a dish of eggplant, dark roasted, with fresh mint, pomegranate seeds, toasted marcona almonds, crisped leeks or onions, chives and a sauce that seemed almost like French dressing plus roasty pan drippings. Delicious!

Basilica of Sacré-Cœur

The lower part of Montmartre, where we were, was a trendy dining and shopping area. The upper part, on one of the tallest points of Paris, is topped by the famous Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur. One of our friends recommended staying in Montmartre for our visit. We chose not to because we didn't want to have to climb and descend it for every outing, but maybe this was the area he meant.

We had planned to use the funicular to scale the hill. Following our map to find it, we climbed a few steep-ish streets. When the map indicated a turn down the hill, we were reluctant to give up the elevation we had gained. So we just kept climbing and eventually, we just popped out at the top.

We primarily came up for the fantastic views and photo opportunities, as the dome is reportedly one of the best places to get an unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower and panoramas of the city. As an active church, it is open daily and admission is free. We did not have a timed entry (and there does not seem to be a way to make one). We felt like the line was longer than we wanted to stand in.

From what I saw online, even the lawns in front were supposed to be a great place to get a shot of the Eiffel Tower. But in our experience, the desired line of sight was mostly blocked by trees. The pictures we did get had to be cropped of extraneous details, while what I wanted was the skyline of a wide, uniform-height city punctuated by the tower's prominence. I do think in the winter, without the leaves and with clearer air, you might get better pics. If we were to go back, I would probably make a visit with specific plans to go up the dome.

We walked all the streets of Montmartre, up and down hills, trying to find the statues and sites that were noted on our map. We found some of them, but not all. You can see from the photo of the bust of singer/comedienne Dalida which part is considered lucky to touch. We skirted the Place du Tertre, filled with artists doing their work, including live portraits. It was quite crowded.

We returned to the basilica and walked down via the front terraces, then made the long but flat return to the hotel. We trekked through streets where people live, work, and shop, making our way back to the hotel for a well-earned shower and rest.

L'Ardoise

On deck for dinner, L'Ardoise, a tiny dining room just around the corner from our hotel. We each started with a salad. Mine was beet salad with salmon. The beets were perfectly tender and finely cubed in a way that enhanced the taste and made a delightful presentation. I will have to remember this trick at home. The beets were topped with lox-style salmon and a dill cream, dotted with bright green basil oil.

The other salad was a warm goat cheese and fresh greens. I will frequently go for goat cheese but was not in the mood for its usual tartness, but this one was creamy and smooth.

For mains we had the farmer chicken breast with white beans (not cannellini; these were rounder and firmer) in a light tarragon vinegar sauce, quite good and rustic at the same time, and veal with mashed potatoes, extra buttery and in a delicious sauce. We very much enjoyed the meal and the service.

Bar Hemingway

After dinner we were feeling reasonably energetic so we passed our hotel and continued down the street to Bar Hemingway inside the Ritz. The doorway from the street leads into a small vestibule and some stairs leading up to the hotel lobby. The bar entry was just to the right, but you can't walk right in. You have to queue up behind the velvet rope. It's quite the to-do.

There was an anticipatory air as we joined the patrons in line. I'd say we only had to wait about 15 minutes, maybe a little longer. We entered the tiny, crowded room packed with a bar and little tables. Our table was already set, providing water with cucumber slices and a tower of castelvetrano olives, nuts with random-reward spices (truffle, celery seed?), and chips. I imagine this was a much more upscale affair than in Hemingway's day. We ordered a Scotch whiskey cocktail that may have contained Laphroaig with port and cherry, and a spicy Manhattan with ginger syrup.

Most of the customers were tourists, many American. There was some fun shared conversation and plenty of memorabilia to look at on the walls. It was very expensive, as you would imagine, and though everything was top-notch, we weren't tempted for a second drink and I don't think it's something I need to do again.

Back at the hotel, we popped into the bar for a nightcap and encountered another guest who was visiting from Spain for work. We enjoyed practicing our Spanish and letting her practice her English. The bartender working this evening, however, was not at all on the friendly side and would not be drawn into our conversation.

For travel, some people are planners and others are more seat-of-the-pants types. I am sure there is a happy medium, though I fall much more on the planning side. I would rather spend time at home researching and then wake up each day to just follow the itinerary.

This works best when you remember to look at the complete itinerary.

I had noted in my spreadsheet that we wanted to go to Sainte-Chapelle at 9am. I did this because we had seen its stained glass on a Rick Steves episode (here is his blog post on it) and this would be a good time to see the morning light coming in. But I missed that I actually booked a timed entry.

Tuileries Garden

We were not careful to get up and out early enough. We woke up late and just headed in the general direction, through Tuileries Garden and then up the Seine alongside the Louvre.

Louvre

We did not go into the museum but did walk into the entry courtyard to see the glass pyramid. We also watched some maybe or maybe not legal street vendors stashing cases of water bottles in the bushes. I guess that's their storeroom for the day.

Café des Arts

Our walk worked up our appetite and we stopped for breakfast at Cafe des Arts on the busy corner adjacent to the Louvre. We sat outside despite the brisk weather and were treated to people-watching and interesting conversation with the server. The location violates the advice to avoid restaurants in tourist areas, but we had a delicious omelet and ham and cheese baguette for a not unreasonable price.

Sainte-Chapelle

By now I had discovered my flub on the Sainte-Chapelle entry, but we wandered over anyway to see how it looked. The line was pretty short so we just got in it with the idea that the worst that would happen is they turned us away. But they let us right in, even though we arrived closer to noon than our slotted 9 a.m.

We entered the chapel and I was immediately underwhelmed and doubting my memory of the video I had seen. But we were actually in the lower chapel — after a relatively short spiral climb, we emerged into the enchanting space we had seen, with ceiling height stained glass. It was lovely.

The upper chapel was full of people, and my eyes immediately went up to the stained glass windows. I almost walked into an area that was blocked off for restoration. It was encased in mirrors. Once I saw it, I recognized the confusing perspective, which you can see in the photo. But the overall effect made the work unobtrusive and I thought it a clever solution.

Sainte-Chapelle is on Île de la Cité, and there is another island, Île Saint-Louis, that is connected by a bridge. The map shows a park at the east end of each island and we aimed to visit both. We had walked much of Île de la Cité already, riverside, but this time we stayed street-level.

We crossed onto Île Saint-Louis and passed along its main street. It looks like a cool neighborhood that would be a great place to live but probably costs a bazillion dollars.

From there looking back toward Île de la Cité, we could see the famous buttresses of Notre Dame cathedral. We could also clearly see the ongoing exterior restoration following the devastating 2019 fire.

Square Barye

The park at the tip of Île Saint-Louis is called Square Barye. It's a bit of a natural area with plenty of benches flanking wide, sandy courtyards. We chatted with a fellow traveler, a lady traveling alone, who was making her last visit before heading to the airport. The wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping but we all agreed it was still good to be outside in Paris.

We crossed off the island to Rive Gauche, south of the bend in the Seine through old Paris. The riverfront there along Quai Saint-Bernard has been made into an art park between the Pont de Sully and Pont d'Austerlitz. There are sculptures and gardens with walking paths. We saw a skate park, but Google maps also shows other spots with other activities like salsa dancing and karate.

Jardin des Plantes

Our next destination was the Jardin des Plantes. We walked through semi-formal grass lawns and flowerbeds interspersed with edibles like tomatoes, peppers, beans, and more. The park also contains a zoo and some nature museums, so I expect these were not exactly test gardens, but were for exhibiting different varietals. We didn't visit any attractions, but we spotted a sign for a labyrinth which of course we had to follow winding its way to the top of a hill. We expected to be rewarded with a view. With all the trees, the best view we had was of the roof-like top of the adjacent giant Lebanon Cedar, but that was worth it.

We were ready for lunch and so headed toward the Rue Mouffetard. I probably learned about this area from Reddit. There is a neighborhood, a few blocks long, that is full of international restaurants and stalls.

Grande Mosquée de Paris

But along the way we found ourselves right in front of the Grand Mosque of Paris, which was also in the itinerary. We debated whether to go inside, then paid the small fee to enter and wander the mosque's rooms and gardens. We admired the ornate tile, fountains, library, and artwork. It was quiet and peaceful inside. We did not enter the prayer room but peered in to see the east-facing alignment of the carpet pattern, defining prayer space for each person.

Now on to lunch! Even the nice day was a bit chilly, so ramen appealed to us. The soup came with a clear broth and was better than most we have had at home other than our favorite place. We also tried the teriyaki duck, which I had never seen on a menu before, and some fried tofu in a rich savory broth. I was unable to communicate my order to the waiter so I had to lead him outside to the pictures in the window and point.

Arènes de Lutèce

Our final stop for the tour was the Arènes de Lùtece. This relic of a Roman arena is today a circular, sandy playfield for petanque, the French version of boules. There were multiple groups playing, plus people sitting in the old stone stands enjoying the day. I daydreamed about what the Romans might have done here and tried to picture the scale of it.

Finally it was time to acquaint ourselves with the famous Paris metro! The #7 would take us from Place-Monge to Pyramides, by our hotel, without having to transfer trains. Getting the initial tickets was difficult, though, and I had to punch the help line number. I think the respondent was speaking French, or maybe it was just hard to hear, I don't recall.

We were made to understand that there were no ticket dispensers in the metro hall and that we needed to walk somewhere else. We thought we were being sent to a different station, but it turned out to be a different entry to the same stop. Despite this shaky start, we eventually became adept at reloading our cards and navigating the system.

We had an evening plan to catch some golden hour photos around Place du Trocadero, Eiffel Tower, and Champs de Mars, and maybe even climb the Arc de Triomphe.

Le P'tit Troquet

Sadly, we skipped these plans due to an evening rain, but we did take the metro out to our dinner reservation at Le P'tit Troquet. Here was another tiny, quality restaurant with unique menu and friendly, professional staff.

One of our orders was the duck confit, which we have generally only had in US restaurants as a terrine or in shredded bits. This presentation was a bone-in leg quarter cooked by confit method and served with crisped skin. It was accompanied by a salad and roasted fingerling potatoes. The other plate was a pork chop, wonderfully browned with a little pan sauce, with hazelnuts and mashed sweet potatoes.

We were having difficulty settling on a wine we thought would pair with both of our dinner selections, as we tend to steer towards cabernet sauvignon. Our server simply poured a couple for us to sample, and we chose an excellent Rhone, somewhat to our own surprise.

For dessert we shared a chocolate and hazelnut cream on mille-feuille wafers, which was also terrific. For both service and food, our overall dining experience was top-notch.

When we finished dinner, we found the rain had stopped and it was a reasonably pleasant evening. We walked to the Champ-de-Mars to see the Eiffel Tower "sparkle" — it is all lit up at night but on the hour, they set off bright, twinkly lights. The ground was soggy so we stuck to the sandy paths and open areas. There were a fair number of people out, we traded taking photos with some of them.

There was also a contingent walking around selling beer and champagne. I am not sure if it is legal to be drinking there and it's pretty certainly illegal for them to be selling alcohol. We were not interested but there was one guy who was very reluctant to take no-thanks for an answer and we had to get a little stern about it.

Our dinner was on the late side, starting at 9, so by this time we were starting to feel tired. We grabbed a car back to the hotel rather than walking some distance to the metro stop then deal with changing trains.

Église Saint-Sulpice

Today we were going to try to replicate another Rick Steves experience, hearing the organ at Église Saint-Sulpice. The website lists times when you might hear it, and as a church it is open to all. We saw that there would be an "audition" at 10 a.m. At first I interpreted that as an American — that someone would be trying out for a role playing for the church, but it really means recital.

We took metro line 12 from Concorde to Rennes, then about a 10 minute walk. The square in front of the church has a giant fountain but was mostly occupied by a flea market. I could find Google street-view images with and without the market so I assume it's regular but not daily. The fountain is big, with statuary and tiers, but it wasn't flowing when we were there.

We went inside and took seats by the door, far away from the service that was still in progress. Not knowing what to expect, we had arrived early and had to wait 15 or 20 minutes for the service to conclude and the organ performance to begin.

The organ's resonance was enchanting. We kept our seats in the back so I never did actually see the organist but the organ pipes, or at least some of them, are above the doors at the back, just above where we were sitting. I understand you can take a tour and climb to the organ loft to see all its parts.

Saint-Sulpice also contains a gnomon, a measuring device aligned to the sun's rays at noon, with markings to tell the solstice and equinox. You might have seen these in the movie The Da Vinci Code.

We had planned to get our lunch at Le Grand Epicerie but it turned out to be closed on Sundays. We decided to press on in the direction of our next destination, Luxembourg gardens.

We encountered a street market that we walked end to end. It was primarily foods: produce, meats (as in, prepared, and butcher-shop counters), breads, cheeses, and more. What a terrific thing if you live and cook here!

The hot food stalls made us extra hungry now. We found a highly-rated restaurant, still looking for some breakfast. But it turned out they rated mainly from the variety of couscous dishes they serve, and not breakfast. After coffee and tea, we headed back to the market and got sausages, potatoes, and bread. There was no place to sit and by now it was raining. We stood under a building overhang and ate standing up.

Carnavalet Museum

Because of the rain, we bailed on seeing Luxembourg gardens and headed over to the Carnavalet Museum. This rich museum tells the history of Paris and has free entry, with no reservation required. It's good for a flex day schedule or even to visit more than once, as there is a lot to absorb. I suppose this is true of plenty of museums.

The Carnavalet starts in a hallway of historical signage arrayed like an art gallery. The whole place has an artistic feel. There is a prescribed chronological path, but somehow we got off it and viewed some rooms out of order. This was pretty confusing. But by this point I think I was saturated with as much as I could retain and then was just admiring the building and artwork. I will have to re-visit on the next trip.

The painting pictured above, Le Matin, or Femme au chien, is by German-born Ferdinand Heilbuth. I wanted to remember it because, of course, I noticed the dog's rear facing the viewer. I was certain this had some political meaning or was meant to insult someone. When I looked it up later, I found that it was just to be unconventional and to show the relaxed state of the subjects. So there, sometimes a dog butt is just happenstance.

After the museum, we were tired and the weather was still wet, so we headed back to the room for a break and to regroup for dinner. A friend had recommended Chez Janou, so that was the plan for today. And though they are open daily, they were closed for a private event. Other friends have mentioned this place as well, so this will remain on the list as well.

Ferona

Instead, close by the hotel we found Ferona, an Argentinian restaurant where we took seats on the sidewalk under the awning. We shared an excellent hummus with chimichurri and sweet potato chips. I have some ideas about how to make this version, which tastes less of lemon and tahini than the way I usually make it.

We also ordered steak, and I ventured to try the steak tartare. I was honestly dreading it but I am trying to be more adventurous. Surprisingly, I liked it, but maybe not enough that I would have it again. We shared a bottle of Argentinian malbec, but did not enjoy it as much as we had hoped.

By the time we finished dinner, the evening turned quite warm and the wind dropped. We wandered around a bit to help our food settle, then turned in for the night.

Musée de l'Orangerie

Another full day ahead. Reviewing my itinerary, I see that we had planned to have breakfast at Café Lapérouse but as I look at their website to recall it, I can tell you that we did not go there or anywhere so fancy. I don't recall if we even had breakfast that morning, as we had a 9 a.m. entry to Musée de l'Orangerie. This was another find from a travel show (again, probably Rick Steves).

We learned that the building itself was designed specifically to display Claude Monet's water lilies paintings. I was familiar with the paintings, but had no idea their scale or the story of them. The museum displays them in 2 oval rooms where they fill the curved walls and take the viewer through the changing light throughout the day and evening.

Even arriving early as we did, the rooms quickly filled with people. You are supposed to keep your silence but of course there needed to be occasional reminders. You are able to view the works pretty close up. I have always loved impressionism and reject the early criticism of its looseness as sloppiness, but here was appreciation on a new level. Looking at these paintings from across the room, you get the luminance and relaxed, natural feel. But with such a large canvas, you can inspect up close and find the intentful effort with shapes and colors indiscernible in the large but giving such richness and depth.

We continued to admire the architecture as we visited additional galleries downstairs. I found myself spending a lot of time with paintings by Chaïm Soutine, André Derain, and especially Maurice Utrillo. Apparently I am intrigued by shades and effects of whites. Unfortunately, I did not rush home to pick up my own paints before the inspiration passed, but perhaps this will serve as a reminder to me.

The Orangerie is not a huge museum; while you might spend a lot of time on particular works, you can cover the galleries in a morning. Thus we had time to revisit the outdoor art exhibition we had seen under construction at Place de la Concorde.

We had earlier seen the photos of kids from around the world. Today we found more displays hung from intricate wooden structures. I don't think I ever saw any title or theme to the show, but with the pictures of humans and animals and the natural materials, to me it inspired thought about our place in the world. Or maybe I am always brooding about such things. In any case, the works were amazing, amusing, and at times sad.

Les Caves du Louvre

Our lunch plan was wine and cheese — what could be more French? Well, maybe a baguette and jambon, but this was a pairing and tasting experience to learn about the different wine regions. We walked the now-familiar streets past the Louvre to Les Caves du Louvre.

When our group assembled, they led us below past their own wine making equipment into a packed cellar room where we were greeted by our sommelier. Each place setting had a collection of stemware and a tray of 10 different cheeses. Don't worry, there were also baguettes available. And water.

The somm took us through 10 wine regions of France, commenting about the history, the grape varieties, the weather, and the geology and soil. He asked around the room about where people were from and what wines they liked. There was another couple there who was with the Washington wines we love, whose favorites were also petit verdot and cab franc like us.

But the point of tasting is to learn new things. We typically don't get into white wines or pinot noir, but here we both really enjoyed the Loire sauvignon blanc (sancerre), Alsace pinot gris, and Bourgogne pinot noir. Possibly the cheese pairings made the difference, because these were also some of our favorite cheeses.

Some other tidbits I learned:

• Loire soils have a lot of oyster shell limestone, imparting minerality
• Most French goat's milk cheese is made in Loire (but you will have to do your own research about the historical reasons)
• Animals' diets differ through the seasons and you should avoid goat cheese made in winter, and instead have buffalo
• Comté was the first cheese made in really big wheels, to survive the long journey from Alsace to the cities
• If your wine shows less acidity than you like, pair it with a salty cheese that also makes your mouth water
• Languedoc's ribeyrenc grape produces lower alcohol wines, usually around 8%, but today it's more like 11-12% due to the warming climate
• There wasn't enough labor to harvest all the grapes at once, so people started planting varieties that ripen at different times and then blended the wines together
• The Loire region's morning fog promotes a fungus that oxidizes tannins without rotting the fruit, giving the wines a more aged character

Also in our plan was to visit the art area at 59 Rue de Rivoli but perhaps we were feeling art-ed out and skipped it. I don't recall the reason, but when I looked at the website while writing this, I think it needs to be on the must-see list for next trip.

Arc de Triomphe

Instead, we took the metro from Louvre-Rivoli to the Arc de Triomphe. You can climb to the top for great views of Paris, but we did not already have these tickets so we just walked all around it, people-watching.

If you continue past the Arc along Avenue de Charles de Gaulle, you pass out of old Paris into the more modern center, including the Grand Arch de la Défense. We did not go this far, but I did manage a photo from the distance of this modern, squared arch. This would be another part of Paris to see on the next visit.

Now for dinner and a show! After a clean-up in the room, we hopped the metro to Place Monge for dinner at Les Baux de Paris. Sadly I made no notes about this place, but looking at photos from Google Maps, I think it looks like a great mix of traditional and modern (but not modernist) cuisine.

Paradis Latin

The show was at Paradis Latin. I chose this instead of Moulin Rouge because it was less expensive, had showtimes that fit our schedule better, and I thought it might be more interesting.

Paradis also offers dinner with (before) the show, so when we were allowed to our seats, the dinner crowd was already seated in the main floor and there was a vocalist (very good) covering a broad range of songs. The theater has the flat main floor with the stage at one end, with raised seating all around and a balcony above. Our seats were in the back, right corner, partially obstructed by a post. We were squeezed into the bench along with a couple ladies who spoke German, maybe.

The show was many things: exotic, erotic, comedic, flamboyant, physical, dazzling, impressive, campy, long. It was given in alternating French and English, with song, dance, costuming, and specific acts. We most remember the contortionists, a man and woman who were absolutely amazing, and a trapeze/silk performer who dipped her long hair in water and then spun flinging water making the shape and sound of it part of the act. There was another lady whose multiple comedic interludes have us continuing to say in deep voices, "Je suis… belle" and "Et voila."

If you go, don't expect much table service; you might get one drink at the start, so consider making it a bottle of wine. The show was worth seeing for the sheer pageantry, but it is not something I would do again.

This was the last day of our Paris itinerary. We planned a light schedule to leave time to do laundry and pack up for our continuing travels.

Musée d'Orsay

We spent the morning at Musée d'Orsay. I can't say enough about this museum. It was probably our favorite of any. On a trip to Paris you could, like us, skip the Louvre and come here. You might even want to make a couple visits — according to Wikipedia, it is one of the largest museums in Europe.

We had spent a lot of time at the Rodin museum and studied the works there along with the audio tour recordings. At the Orsay, we did not have an audio tour but spent just as much time pondering different works. We saw sculptures by Rodin that we appreciated more from what we learned previously. You notice more details when you know the story of a piece — either the subject or the history of its creation — and have seen it in various iterations.

But this museum had even more sculpture to study, along with paintings and a marvelous gallery of art nouveau furniture in lustrous woods. We spent a long time just admiring the building, which was originally the Orsay train station. The only part that was terribly crowded was the cafe, so we left once we were getting hangry.

Among paintings, I saw up close for the first time some impressive pointillist works. And of course the impressionists! So many varied, even complementary, overlapping colors coming together to form an image before your eyes.

And I spent a ridiculous length of time studying Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida's The Return from Fishing: Hauling the Boat, mesmerized by the use of light and reflection. I could almost feel the wind's lift in the sail and hear it flap and billow.

I am poring over it now as I write, trying to articulate my fascination. Even in my photo on my small computer screen, I am continuing to see new details, like a whole other person that I never noticed before!

Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor

We walked back along rive gauche to cross at a most interesting pedestrian bridge, the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor. The bridge is constructed of steel and wood and allows passage from both street level and from the river promenade.

We climbed it from the lower level. From my picture you can see the stairs have an easy rise. But as you climb you can see through the gaps in the treads to the river below, and to me this was quite disorienting.

After a lunch that I don't recall, we toted our laundry to a laundromat near the hotel. It's always an adventure trying to figure out the machines and how to pay and start them, and whether or not they dispense soap. There was some oddness with the pay machine only taking one euro at a time but eventually we got it sorted out.

Ze Kitchen Galerie

Dinner was at the Michelin-listed Ze Kitchen Galerie. Yikes, I don't remember it, even after looking at people's photos on Google Maps. Fortunately, I took some notes that are reminding me.

One dish that I described in order to try to replicate it was a hot soup that tasted to me of cream, cucumber, coriander, and green peppercorn. Another was topped with lemon caviar, giving bright pops of citrus. We learned from the server that they come from finger limes, whose vesicles are easily and cleanly separated. One of the mains was chicken breast atop a creamed corn sauce, which sounds super country for a fancy restaurant but was top-notch.

We had a 12:35 reservation for the train to Bordeaux for the next day, so we retired early and made sure everything was set for departure. But you might want to continue to the next page to read about our travel (mis)adventures and lessons we learned.