Paris recap, day 7

This is the last full day but I have one more post on the trip after this. 

We went to the Louvre and we got there before opening. There was no line so we went into the Starbucks that's inside the Louvre's mall. Yes, underground the Louvre has a mall with a food court, Starbucks, and an Apple Store. There were other stores too. 

When we were done, the line was stupid long. We stood in it for about half an hour. Looking back on the trip, we only had three lines to deal with and two were the Louvre. Madness. The inverted pyramid is cool looking. There were way too many people to snap a good selfie. 

I managed to snap a selfie with some cool vases. 

We were done with a lot more Louvre at lunch time and went to the food court. It was international with cuisine from all over the world (but America.) We couldn't quite figure it out and hangry was setting in. We ended up at McDonald's for nuggets. That took time to figure out because there was a machine to order from and I thought it was a jerk. It wanted my credit card before my order. 

We missed Montemarte and went back for one final amazing meal at a different restaurant. The server took F.O.R.E.V.E.R and eventually another showed up. Just in the nick of time too because we had been sitting for about half an hour without a hello and we were gonna leave. 

The server recommended this wine and it was fabulous. I must try and find it here. 

Mussels, French onion soup, and bread. It truly was a feast!

Then of course we needed coffee.

From there we went to the Experimental Cocktail Lounge. That was a cool hole in the wall bar that serves top notch drinks. 

Only the freshest ingredients will do. 

We spent too much. 

We drank too much. It was a final hurrah before we had to leave the next day. I had a lot of fun. Max is the manager and top bartender. He was great to chat with. He spoke English and French fluently because his mom is from England. We walked 23,700 steps partially because I was on a mission to find a certain chocolate shop.  

Paris recap day 4

We attempted to find Starbucks but was skunked. I thought it was underground but at any rate the garden where it was to be found was most definitely under construction. Nelson Mandela garden. We found this little coffee shop with free wifi and settled on that. We were quite turned around and there were extra steps involved. 

We were headed to Montemarte, it's at the top of a hill and Espace Dali was there. The museum was small but I loved all the melting clocks. Dali looked like he was quite the character. 

After climbing the mountain, I needed more coffee. Fortunately, there was free wifi and Starbucks right behind the museum. From there we wandered over to the Basilica of Montemarte. What a sight! 

We walked through the church and found it to be impressive inside as well. They hold services there but I wasn't interested in a sermon in French (or English really.) For 6 euros, you can climb all the stairs to the top and have a unobstructed view of all of Paris. 

We are both afraid of heights and it was scary. 

I found the Eiffel Tower! After snapping the pics, we carefully headed down. It's a giant spiral staircase that has you going around and around and around. It had a dizzying affect. 

We had our portrait done by one of the many artists in residence there. Francois stopped me and had to draw us. Then he wanted 150 to 200 euro. I was able to get him 150 and he was pleased. 

We sat enjoying the meat plate, the wine, the bread and the people watching.

Then capped the feast off with a Nutella crepe and coffee. 

I snapped a pic of the napkin because I liked the location and the staff was friend,y. 

Shameless selfie with their Christmas tree upstairs. 

We went to Crazy Horse later that night and enjoyed their champagne. Good show and good drink! This was the one time we used a taxi to get to and from our destination (besides the airport).

When we got back from the show, we decided a few more drinks was a good idea. That's mulled wine.

And he had beer. The service was French. That means they don't come quick or often. I'm guessing its cultural because so many people will order a 2 euro coffee and chat for hours. Literally, hours. Which is something we should embrace here. There's no need to rush. We had 17,200 steps this day.