Day Seventeen - Paris

We were all up early -- purchased our metro day passes and had coffee at a cafe near our hotel before going our separate ways.  Patte and Dave to Musee' D'Orsay (art museum), Phil to Musee' Invalides (military museum) and me to my hairdresser, Jamal.

I exited the Metro at Concorde and walked up the Champs-Elysee -- wonderful walk which brought me to Jamal's salon just before 10:00 am.   Jamal had Catherine wash my hair while he finished up with another customer.   When I sat in the chair he said, "So what do you want?".  I said I wanted something easy to care for but not too short.  Jamal, who holds citizenship in Lebanon and France, has been in Paris for 36 years.  He cut and snipped and waved his hands using two different scissors at the same time -- he also used two blow dryers simultaneously.   Voila -- I had a haircut that I loved! 

Since I had a couple hours before meeting my group --- I walked around the neighborhood and found a street market where I purchased herbed sea salt (don't know why), herb snipping scissors and of course a decadent pastry.   I next found the Cafe le Grand Corona at the base of Avenue George V.   I sipped my expresso and wrote about my day as I watched the goings on outside the window -- including the making of a movie or a commercial.   I felt very French.

After meeting Patte, Dave and Phil at the "Flame of Freedom" at 1:00 pm ---- we had lunch back at my cafe.   Dave is still having difficulty explaining to the French that he wants no dressing on his salad.   He ordered no dressing -- it came with dressing -- he sent it back with explicit instructions -- it came back looking exactly the same.  C'est la Vie!

After lunch -- Phil went off to take a picture of himself with the Eiffel Tower in the background for some folks at Pete's Bar in Neptune Beach. Patte, Dave and I walked along the Seine towards Notre Dame where we were going to meet Phil and go to 5:45 Mass.   It was a great walk through the Tuileries Gardens and by the bookstalls along the river -- also a bridge which was loaded with various padlocks --- very interesting.   We arrived about 5:00 pm to a very busy area outside this incredible gothic cathedral -- there was a line to get in but it moved along and we found Phil sitting in the back of the church.

After Mass -- we went on a hunt for a good dinner place.  We settled on "Navigator" in the Latin Quarter on a side street --- it looked local.  It was local -- nobody spoke English.  After some difficulty in the beginning we forged ahead -- ordered our meals with some trepidation but were all very pleased -- even Dave.

As we were walking towards the Metro we happened upon Shakespeare and Company -- a bookshop which has been in Paris since the 1920's.   Originally opened by Sylvia Beach, an American expatriate,  it was a gathering place for the literary folks of that period.  It was fun to see and browse around -- a nice finish to our day.   

We took the Metro to our hotel ending a wonderful last day in the City of Light.

Thanks for Reading!