Paris 2014 - Day 14, just walk and absorb Paris

First I'll catch you up on last night. A little background; Marie lived with Christine from September to December 2012, while she attended one semester of her Masters in Business at York University. Her friends, Perrin and Hermine were frequently there too (also attending the same program).  Marie and Perrin spent Thanksgiving at the cottage with our family. They are all from Paris. We met up with them last night at a restaurant near Chatolet.

It was what the British would call "cheap and cheerful". It was definitely not a tourist spot as there was no décor to speak of and it was jammed full of French speaking young people. The menu had some of the usual food we have been seeing at restaurants but also a section of Basque specialities. So had to try the cassoulet ;

This was a white bean in tomato sauce casserole with two large slabs of bacon also cooked in it.
On top, I don't know if they were also cooked in it or added after, were a sausage and a portion
of duck.

This was quite delicious but I couldn't eat it all. I asked Perrin if France had something like a Doggy Bag and she said yes, just ask for a Doggy Bag (but with a French accent) and, no, Un Sac de Chein was not the same, that was for pooper scooping.
Chris and Jason both had steak and I forgot to tell them about French steak, so it was not quite what they expected.

Marie had escargot and they were really just a vehicle for delicious sauce to
dip the baguette into.

Perrin had calamari.

The animated conversation slipped from French to English and often a mixture of both until Perrin said she really had to go because she had to work in the morning and we realized it was after 11. There were hugs and cheek kisses with promises to keep in touch and then we caught a bus up to the Champs Elysee but the only one still running didn't go all the way up to the Arche. We caught another bus to get to a Metro station and it took us around the, now lit, Eiffel Tower. During dinner Marie asked how we had found the Parisian people to be and I had given her examples of how helpful people had been to us. I had another example; as I was trying to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower through the bus window the bus driver pulled up to a stop at a light and gestured for me to go up and stand beside him to get a better picture.

Home via Metro, when we got a quick glimpse of the tower twinkling strobe lights, and in bed by 1am. Needless to say we slept in this morning.

Christine in her pjs leaning out our living room window, as I bring home the
morning coffee and croissants.

Today I just walked Avenue General Leclerc for about an hour and a half. I wandered in and out of stores, sort of looking for a particular souvenir that Chris wanted, but more to feast on the selection and colours and mentally gasp at the prices. This street is a Paris retail street. There is everything; shoes, luggage, clothing, purses, linens, household décor, cell phones, fromageries, boulangeries, chocolate, produce , meat, fish, banks, real estate agents and at every corner and often in between cafes and brassiers. Its a busy and fascinating street.

I walked so far up the street I actually saw a modern Metro sign

Rather than the old style like this

or this.

This last kind, art nouveau, from 1900 to 1912 (been on wiki again) has alternative entrance styles. There are 86 of this era still in use in Paris.

They also have ornate balustrades.

 

I couldn't resist taking this final shot. Its actually an RER (train) station entrance down by the Seine.

As for Chris and Jason: Chris received an e-mail a couple of days ago that she has a job interview the day after we return and she spent today working on the assignment that is part of that interview (the second assignment for this interview process - its intense) and Jason went to the Military museum. Chris has just left to meet him to climb the Eiffel Tower on their last night here.