Day 9

Since our other attempt on Sunday to go to the archaeological crypt at Notre Dame failed (closed due to holiday), we decided to try that again today.

And again, it was closed.

We couldn’t tell why until we walked around by Notre Dame (which was incredibly busy right out front) and saw two lines leading into the church marked “Air France” and “Families”. It must have been a memorial service, and a ton of people were there, a lot of news cameras too, and we saw Air France pilots and staff in uniform walking around throughout most of the day.

So we had to come up with another plan. We walked over the bridge to Ile-St-Louis, the smaller “island” in the Seine. There, we found Berthillon, fabled in one of our travel books to be the best ice cream in Paris. There was no way I could pass it up. It was a beautiful little place, with a tea room attached, on a charming street that was filled with patisseries, gourmet food shops, tea rooms, and little art galleries and boutiques. I’d like to go back there and spend more time. But anyway, the ice cream: I tried the sorbets and Kyle had the “glaces” (the ice cream in France is more like what we know as gelato), two scoops each. Mine were blood orange and pear, and Kyle’s were pistachio and caramel. Everything was amazing, such true, deep flavors. Knowing that they sell pints, I’m in trouble. I plan on several trips back. I’ll try every flavor before the trip is through. Also, a few other spots in town, many on that street, sell Berthillon as well but I think I’ll have to keep going to the real location. On the way off the island we stumbled upon some kind of film set. Could have been a commercial, a movie, TV, we have no idea, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Then we wandered around the Latin district a bit (called Latin because from the 12^th century, when the university was built, all the professors and students around the area spoke primarily Latin), and down Boulevard Saint-Germain. Full of bars and cafes, and the coolest bookstore I’ve ever seen (Katie, you would have thought you’d died and gone to heaven). Right along the Seine, there’s City Lights books, (in a building marked Shakespeare Company) an old house with shelves everywhere, every nook and cranny filled floor to ceiling with new and used books, all arranged in a funky way too, such as the “Beat Generation” section. Next door is its sister Rare Books shop. After browsing, we explored some more; we walked past the Pantheon and the Sorbonne. Further down St Germain, we found the French equivalents of Barnes and Noble, and Target, and browsed some more. The bookstore was six levels! The four volumes of the Twilight saga are known here as: Fascination, Temptation, Hesitation, and Revelation, respectively. Monoprix (the French Target) is not quite as great as Target, but still excellent.

On the way home, we picked up pita wraps from our Lebanese place, Man’Ouché, and tartes again from the corner patisserie (Kyle really fell for their apple tarte). Mind you, these are both within twenty feet of our building. So we ate and decided to explore Les Halles, the mall nearby. We had no idea how big it was! I had wondered where they hide the 19 screen movie theatre. Turns out, there are two levels above ground (not that big) and four levels underground (much larger)! I think we’ll go see Angels & Demons sometime soon, it’s one of the few American movies here we haven’t seen yet. Has anyone seen it? Any opinions? After Les Halles, we weren’t ready to call it a night, so we hung out in the square in front of Pompidou, which is always lively and great for people watching. Then I picked up some gelato from the other top ice cream place noted in the book, Amorino. I had crème caramel, and bacio, which is chocolate and hazelnut (one of the world’s great combinations – thank you Nutella!) So, if you’re counting, yes I ate three desserts today. The sugar rush may explain why it’s a bit past 1am and I’m not too tired. But still, I’ll give sleep a go. Louvre on Friday. Not sure what’s in store for tomorrow, but we’ll take it easy. One must prepare for Louvre Day.

Bonne nuit a tous,

Steph