Dreaming of Paris-Part Trois

This is part three in a series of posts from my trip to Paris three years ago with my Dad. Each night I wrote down what we did that day so I could remember all the things we did, saw and ate. Most nights I was too tired to go into much detail but you can get the general idea. Also, this trip was pre-blog and I didn't take as many pictures as I would if I took the trip today. If you want to read parts one and two you can do so here and here.

"Woke to clowdy skies and took bus #69 to the Marais area. Grabbed a chocolate/almond croissant and oj at a bakery once we got there. Found Avenue St. Paul which was suppose to have a flea market, but we didn't see one. Shops in the area not opened yet so we strolled around the area a bit and visited Place de Vosges, a neat former Palace with a park in front.

Went back to St. Paul and a couple of the shops were open. Very expensive stuff. Did not buy one thing. Decided we would head to Montmartre (the area in the movie "Amelie") so we took bus #65 to bus #30 to the base of Montmartre and went to the top to Sacre Coeur.

Great view of Paris, but couldn't see Eiffel Tower from there, too cloudy. Walked down some really quaint cobbled streets to this square with lots of painters selling their works of art. Lots of people there to paint portraits too. Such a neat atmosphere. We stopped in the square at a restaurant to have lunch. Escargot and a croche monseur for me. Very tasty, but too much food. Surprised by the large portions here in Paris. Oh yes, I forgot to say, I paid .50 euro to pee in pub in Montmartre.

After lunch we made out way to the Moulin Rouge on a very seedy, X-rated, touristy, street. After that we had a hard time finding a bus back to our hotel. Ultimately we took a cab back to the Marais area and then caught the #69 bus back to Rue Grenelle right by our hotel. Rested and cleaned up for dinner.

Spotted a fancy restaurant called the "Cafe de l'Esplanade" on Rue Grenelle. Very posh. Valet parking on a busy street. Hard to read menu. Had some kind of fish with Bearnaise sauce and yummy mashed potatoes. Keith (my Dad) had steak again which ordered medium well and it came pretty red. He sent it back after he had eaten most of it and it came back okay looking on the outside and raw on the inside. He wasn't too happy. I guess he should have said "well done." He had fancy cookies for desert and I had some kind of pastry with strawberries and cream. Walked back to the hotel on St. Dominque and passed out."

Hope you are enjoying my little trip down memory lane. Part four will be be about meeting up with Isabel and her family for a little site seeing.