Paris, Part Deux
Tuesday was fun. After being lazy all morning (jet lag alert), Mike and I ventured out toward the Pantheon, had lunch along what ever boulevard leads from the Pantheon to Luxembourg Gardens, then sat amongst the throngs of tourists in the garden.
Then we walked alng Boulevard St. Germain to see if we could find little gifts for our mothers. Neither of us purchased anything, but the Armani/Casa store had a lovely little dresser for only $13,600 Euros. I think we’ll keep looking. We both love our mom’s….but I think that’s too much.
From St. Germain, we walked onto Ile de la cite, then past the Hotel de Ville, before shopping along Rue Rivol (I believe that’s where we shopped…it’s were H&M, We, Bazaar de Hotel de Ville, Zara and other shops are. Mike succeeded in buying himself some fine shirts. I needed a new watch but avoided contact with all customer service people because buying a watvh would require showing them my hands and fingers which now appear like I’ve got full on lepresy.
We venture further into the Marias where we went into book shops and trendy gay clothing stores (more for the fun since neither of us is really trendy). Though, I must admit that the french love their synthetic fibers. Unfortunately, my fingers have no sensation at the moment so I couldn’t enjoy the smoothness of the items on the racks.
Around 10PM we headed out to dinner at a Morrocan place with Mark on Ile St Louis. Very good food. Then Mark retired to the apartment and Mike and I headed out to the Bear’s Den. There was an outdoor patio (packed) and inside bar (a handful of people…but the floor plan was small – not much larger than a decent sized bedrooms). Mike then directed me down some stairs which literally brought us to a space that felt like a cave with stone walls and rough arched ceilings (and a little video screen showing fat, hairy men fooling around. Another set of stairs brought us down to an even lower level of the basement where there were virtually no lights – just the occasional moans, groans and roars you’d expect to hear in a natural bear habitat.
We then went to bar called Riiado(?) which had little shower booths where twinky little men in speeedos would dance…but there were no dancers. THe place was PACKED and there was no AC so we lasted one drink before retiring home.
OH, Karn, Mike and I did take some pictures of us on one of the bridges crossing the Seine and once I feel technically motivated, I will post that – along with the others – here.
We also decided what we’re going to do for the last days of our trip before heading to London: Amsterdam. After pricing trips to Aix-en-Provence, Bruges, Nantes, Bordeau, Loire Valley, and other places, it seems that renting a car and heading to Amsterdam is the way to go. On the plus side, we’ll have to drive the Belgium so I can add yet another country to my list: France, Belgium, Netherlands and United Kingdom. YAY.
OK – I’m not sure what’s up for today, Mike is still sleeping. After reserving the car and hotels for Amsterdam, I suspect we’ll go the Grandes Boulevards….maybe the catacombs. Most definitely we’ll end up at a sidewalk cafe since that’s about all you can do in Paris.
Au revoir!
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C’est magnifique — deux! . . . and yes, it sounds as if you were on the Rue Rivoli 🙂 . . . and congrats on making the decision to go to Amsterdam (although beware . . . if you thought the sun stayed up late in Paris, it’ll be up past midnight in Amsterdam!) . . . talk to you in a few weeks . . . off to the South (from which I hope I return with some sanity left!).
If antiquities interest you, the Roman baths are substantially preserved just down the Boulevard St. Michel from the Seine. Climbing the towers of Notre Dame is a great experience with views that are incredible.
Have fun in Amsterdam! Fritz and I love the place, particularly as he has family there.
Ok first of all my name is not KARN.
Second, “end up at a sidewalk cafe since that’s about all you can do in Paris”???? Are you MAD? Museums! Art! History! Shopping! DIOR! Givenchy! Even if to sniff the moneyed air inside their hallowed halls! Are you in fact gay? Jesus!
Third, I don’t care if it cost a MILLION Euros – never, ever say something for your mother is too much. Say it’s beyond budget or a little more than you hoped to spend, but having been on this side of the mothering fence, I assure you – she’s totally earned a 13k euro desk if she wants one.
Sounds fun… although the Bear Den sounds scary to me. Glad to hear about the copious photos we have to look forward to. What are you going to see in Amsterdam? I wanted so badly to see the Anne Frank house , 263 Prinsengracht. Or is it Rue Tivoli? Somehow I feel morally obligated to see the place. Probably not on your list.
Oh well.
Have a good time, keep us posted! Thank you for blogging! Le Mwah!
Hiya laddies – sounds like good fun you’re having, and smart plans made for Amsterdam! Hmmm…(with all due apologies to Karyn, who is, in principle, of course, correct), another item which may well exceed the budget, but may not, would be easy to pack, and might be good: isn’t the classic gift-from-Paris-for-Mom an Hermes scarf? (If that’s her style) Of course, they’re available here and probably for less outlay, given the weak dollar and lighter taxation here – [don’t buy scotch in Scotland or London, for example – it’s ALL available here for less…]. A suggestion of a store to check out in London for possible giftie things from the sublime to the ridiculous: the famed “Liberty” store on Regent Street – they have a huge array of fabulous printed silks and such, and the crazy Edwardian richness of the place is fun in itself – better yet, they speak English and I don’t recall them being too disdainful of a regular young guy walking in (not least as it is a biggish department store, though high-end) which I’d rather fear in the Paris outlets of Givenchy, Dior, or Hermes… When I was a little kid, the flagship Godiva chocolate store was beyond belief in terms of what they had (not just the stuff every dept. store here has) – it was Eastertime and life-size chocolate chickens were just the beginning – fun to look at, at least! Of course, eek…that was 30 years ago. Belgium will be even better for chocolate, of course…
I’m assuming that flash photographs in the Bears’ Den would produce much the same reaction as a same in the lair of an actual quadruped [with but one back]….
The Richelieu Wing in the Louvre is totally amazing, btw – beautiful layout and display of their staggering collection…
All best – and, yeah, thanks for giving us all the voyeuristic pleasure via the blogosphere!