Tuesday was our final full day in Paris. I was sad to leave and still had more shopping I wanted to do. So I got up before the others and headed back to the Flower Market to get a few other gifts. As it turned out, the place opened later than I anticipated (remember, the Parisians don't get up early!), so I had some time to stroll around on the Islands and to take in some time at Notre Dame. Then I was back at the Flower Market so I could buy some lavender and herbs de provence before I met with my family for breakfast.
Afterwards, we had a very nice breakfast at a nearby cafe.
The plan for the day was to take in the grands magasins - the major shopping complexes in Paris - at our leisure. I thought I knew what a department store was, until I went to these! First stop was Au Printemps.
Seven or more floors, with different buildings for ladies, home, men, and children's things. They have two floors of gourmet foodstuffs! Unbelievable! We had fun gawking at all the things to buy. Au Printemps was a little high-end though, so we actually didn't buy anything there.
God bless him, Ramy wasn't quite as interested in shopping as my mom and I were. So around lunchtime, he decided to take off with Rebecca so they could pal around in Paris while we shopped. Fine by us! Incidentally, I had the best croque madame ever at a street cafe on Hausmann Boulevard that day.
After lunch, we were recharged and ready to take on Galleries Layfayette. I just knew that the bag of my dreams would be waiting there on me, and I wasn't disappointed! I bought a red leather Lancaster bag that I adored. We decided to stop by BHV on the way home, so we took a cab from the 7th to the 4th (you see how good I was at navigating by this time?). BHV was so cool. You can buy a Longchamps purse on the main level, a Skil saw in the basement, Bic pens on the 3rd, and Karl Lagerfeld on the 7th floor. I picked up a couple of last minute gifts, and then we walked back to the apartment, stopping to buy some chocolate for gifts on our way (and I think also for a pastry somewhere too).
After we did most of our packing at the apartment, we dressed up for one last night on the town. Of course, Rebecca had to pose for us.
We headed back across the river and stopped for a few last pictures in front of Notre Dame.
We strolled over the Seine and stopped to take in the sunset before moving on into the Latin Quarter in search of a good place for our final night's dinner.
I decided I needed some fondue before leaving Paris, and I wasn't disappointed! We ended up choosing a place that was right across from St. Severin's Church, which was a place I had wanted to see but wasn't high enough on the list to make a special trip. So it was nice to get to see it and all its gargoyles as well.
We took the bus back "home" after leaving the restaurant, and as it would have it, it took us across the river at a place where we could see the Eiffel Tower one last time, twinkling goodbye to us.
We quickly finished up packing that night and got up early on Tuesday morning. I was a bit nervous about the shuttle company I'd reserved, as I had heard horror stories from other travelers using all the major shuttles and them not showing up to take them to the airport. Except for the fact that we were traveling with a child who needed to be in a carseat, we'd have done a cab. To my dismay, he was late, and I got a bit ugly on the phone. Just as I was warning them I was calling a cab, he showed up. As it turned out, I had allowed wayyyyy more time than necessary (I had built in extra time in case I needed to call for a cab) and we got to the airport with about 3 hours before we needed to be boarding. That was fine and good though; we got through security and to our gate. Then we realized there were no bathrooms on our side of the last security. To go to the bathroom or to get something to eat, we had to go back through security again! So we did so in shifts. Our flight home was unremarkable, which is exactly the way we prefer flights to be! We laid over again in Charlotte and arrived back in Huntsville in time for dinner at the Cracker Barrell. Fortunately, I don't think any of us had any difficulties with jetlag, and we came home with wonderful souvenirs and memories.
Thanks for an amazing trip, Mom/Grammy!
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