36 Hours in Paris

The Sorbonne University of Paris

We returned our rental car to the Bari Airport in southeast Italy, and flew Easyjet back to Paris, where we would ready ourselves for the trip back to America.  This time we stayed on the Left Bank in a hotel near the Luxembourg Gardens and the Sorbonne University.  It rained when we arrived, but other than a few very brief showers, the weather for our short visit was perfect: sixties and sunny.

The Parthenon

On our first evening, we took a walk in the crisp night air, passing by the Pantheon, a grand-pillared structured where many of the Parisian elite are buried.  The Pantheon was impressive enough, but the monumental buildings surrounding it were bathed in warm golden light.  This is what Anne loves so much about Paris: it is drop dead gorgeous even where you don’t expect it to be.

Place Contrescarpe on rue Mouffetard

We continued on to rue Mouffetard, one of our favorite haunts in Paris.  Rue Mouffetard is a popular shopping street, and, in the past, we had always visited during the day.  Now after dark, we noted that the patrons were considerably younger and the streets were humming with youthful energy (lots of that ubiquitous French testosterone permeating the air, LOL).  Oh! To be young and in Paris!  (Actually, it’s not too bad at our advanced ages either!)

Enjoying the Iranian music at Cafe Colbeh

For something different, we ate dinner at an Armenian/Iranian café called Café Colbeh.  The food was good and quite different, and our hardworking Iranian waitress flew around the small space waiting on all the customers.  We hadn’t even noticed the sound system squeezed into a far back corner, but soon the room was filled with haunting Iranian music; everyone was swaying to the exotic rhythms.  What fun!

Souvenir Shopping

With just one full day in Paris before our return to America, we didn't try to accomplish too much, but we managed to do some of our favorite things.  We grabbed a quick lunch at a favorite crepe stand near the Cluny museum that we had frequented years ago, and ate our yummy crepes on a park bench in the secluded park right next to the Cluny.  We also did some souvenir shopping, found a new fine chocolate shop called Michael Chaudon (although he is no competition for Anne’s "choco-throb", Jean-Paul Hevin), and even watched some old men playing a springtime  pick-up game of petanque in one of the parks. 

Tulips!

It was spring, and Paris was in full bloom!  We walked past sparkling tulips, luscious roses, and fragrant lilac bushes.  

Rodin's "The Thinker"

We ended our day with a visit to the gardens at the Rodin Museum where the combination of sunshine, flowers, fountains, and amazing sculptures offered a perfect Paris-in-springtime treat.

This brings us to the end of yet another travel adventure.  Tomorrow we go home.  We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog, and as always, we thank you for sharing this experience with us!

At the Rodin Musee