And Then There Were Two

The hub and I moved from the hotel to an apartment on Wednesday.  We decided to try  a new part of town since we were looking for very inexpensive digs near the terminus of the Tour de France on Sunday.  Although I always thought of the Champs Elysee and  surrounding area as very commercial, we settled on a small studio on rue Colisee, directly off the Champs.   Well, surprise, we love it!  Franklin Roosevelt has wonderful stores, patisseries and restaurants and the Metro is at the intersection of our street and the Champs.  (Tonight was the scheduled premier of The Dark Knight at the same intersection but, due to the tragedy in Colorado, it was cancelled. )

Inner Courtyard to our apartment

Eiffel Tower from apartment window

The one thing that would keep us from recommending this area is that the metro connections are not great. Only two lines run from our stop, which means lots of changing to get anywhere and a masters in puzzle-solving to do it without accessing the dreaded Chatalet stop!

Happy Hub!

Place d' Concorde

Place d' Concorde

I might have mentioned earlier that this is our first summer visit to Paris (did I mention that it's because we are but poor vagabonds and off-season gives the most bang for the buck?). Well. Surprise number two:  the weather has been perfect and the crowds minimal.  Yesterday and today were both 70 degree days.  Yesterday we walked the entire length of the Champs to the Place de Concorde, through the Tuilleries-a traditional walk for us--through the Louvre courtyard, across the Seine to the D'orsay before our feet called it an afternoon.  Home for lunch and a rest and neighborhoodThai for dinner.  I would love to put the little Sri Lankan lady who runs the Thai restaurant in my suitcase and bring her home.  She is always smiling and friendly, does all the cooking in the basement and her spring rolls are unbelievable.

Rhino at the Musee d'Orsay

Pyramid-Louvre

Happy Hub

Today we headed for St. Germain and walked the Luxemburg Gardens.  Wow!  It has been so lovely to see the gardens in full summer bloom instead of waving good-bye in the fall.  Sunday we'll walk the Promenade Plantee, an elevated garden walkway that runs through the twelfth arrondissement.  Off the tourist shuffle and usually deserted in the cooler months, I'm hoping to see lots of color. 

Hemingway would have loved this fatty!

A bird with good taste!

Lunch break in the Luxemburg

Art is everywhere-surprise!

Chess in the Luxemburg

Tea break in the Lux

Tonight we headed back to St. Germain for dinner at Chez Fernand.  Foodie friends: Jody and David introduced us to this place years ago and it's now a favorite stop. On rue Christine off of rue de Augustins, by the quay.   Always good, always friendly.  Tonight's dinner consisted of a terrine of duck foie gras with a sweet onion chutney for my starter and a gratin of onion soup for Gene. We both had Beef Bourginion for main and shared a desert of molten chocolate souffle and salted caramel ice cream. A bottle of a nice white rounded it out and a good walk to the metro seemed prudent after.  Almost as good as our gourmet lunch at MickeyD's!

Chez Fernand

Mel's Foie Gras starter