Paris Day 3, 12/29/15
Tuesday, 12/29/15
It rained the night before; the streets were damp, but the Sun came out by noon, and it was a nice warm day with a high in the low 50s.
We had breakfast at the famous Les Deux Magots. It is just a couple of blocks from the hotel, and we had a nice full breakfast.
Mike and Liane went out by themselves for a walk. The rest of us headed out to go shopping at the Galleries Lafayette. To get there, we took the metro to the Madeleine métro stop (Ligne 8). We toured the L’église de la Madeleine then stopped for a quick snack at the surprisingly good Pomme de Pain (apple filled benets).
We bought Sean and Regina a baby gift from the really nice infant clothing shop called Noukies.
On our way to the Galleries Lafayette, we saw a sign for FNAC and stopped at the Saint-Lazare storefound inside the Passage du Havre shopping mall. FNAC is like ticketmaster or stubhub for Paris; you can buy tickets for anything here. We bought some Museum Passes. We needed these for our planned visit to the Louvre, Musée D’Orsay, Versailles, etc. I waited in line about 30 minutes; it was worth it.We finally made it to the Galleries Lafayette. First thing, we stopped at the café called Vue sur Coupole. We had champagne and macaroons. It was busy, but we were lucky and got seats together. It had a great view of the atrium and the beautifully decorated Christmas Tree.
Liz and Molly bought Star Wars Rey character action figures. The Disney store was out of stock but they stocked plenty here. Molly bought a couple of books and some gifts for home. I got a really nice wallet; my wallet from Florence from 10 years ago is wearing out. Molly got gifts for her parents. Liz bought a really nice barrette for her hair. We had a really late lunch at the Galleries Lafayette cafeteria. The food was pretty good, and we had a nice spot to sit. We were getting tired.
We left the store. The crowds were everywhere! We took a couple of pictures by the Opéra. Then, we took the métro back to the hotel. We were lucky that we were able to sit most of the way back.We got back to the hotel to learn that Mike and Liane got engaged! We were so happy!! They shared a romantic story of their engagement on the 2nd level of the Tour Eiffel in front of a small crowd of people.
We had a celebration dinner at the nearby Santa Lucia’s Italian Restaurant. This wasn’t like any restaurant we had been to so far, this was truly Italian – more like a place we might have gone to in Rome. Our server helped to make the meal a celebration for Mike and Liane. Our first course was a bottle of champagne. Everyone’s food was great, but the favorite was the Tiramisu we had for desert.
Congratulations Mike and Liane!!
Pointer to dropbox album for today’s pictures:
