A quick one day trip to Paris
Kaija’s sister came down for a very quick visit here in Brussels and we wanted to make the most it being her first visit in this area of Europe. Before she arrived we had asked her about wishes here. Kaija and I agreed on the possibility to drive down to Paris for a quick trip Saturday. Her sister was very trilled by the possibility to see Paris as well as Brussels. We drove from Brussels at 8.30 am and we were driving into Paris just after 11 am. The trip was very calm and we were quiet happy to have very moderate traffic all the way down.
Arriving at Paris I immediately when for the parking basement in the Latin Quarter which one of the areas of Paris I enjoy the most. We strolled around the streets there just to get the scents and the atmosphere under our skin. The weather was fantastic for the season but we were lacking the last 5 degrees Celsius to have one of these totally marvellous days. We found a lunch restaurant in one of the touristic magnet area close to Rue Saint Germain. We had a bad meal which was totally overprized comparing prize and quality.
Thereafter we went to the Notre Dame and caught a sightseeing bus for a round trip in Paris. Here we only got of at the Eiffel Tower which Kaija’s sister always wanted to mount. Since we first were there at late afternoon we were standing in a line for most of the trip up and down the tower.
Do you not want to sit outside; then you can move inside, given the time of the year when we visited, outside eating was not an option. We were some of the first lunch customers that arrived there for lunch that day; we chose a table in one of the corners where we also had a good view over the rest of the restaurant.
The waiter arrived very quickly; he was to my point to much! He tried to be overfriendly and cheeky but didn’t have the charm so that it was possible for him to get away with it. We got the menu card and browsed through it all of us. My girlfriend chose a Frankfort frites, which was a boring plate with two bad sausages. Her sister took the Tagliatelles, which didn’t really have any flavor. I had the Salad Supreme which were eatable.
In the bar you can also drink beer and I think the place is much better on that. If you are a beer drinker, then a visit to this pub should be your priority. A wide selection of beers from Belgium, Germany and France are on offer, but it never will be the best place also for that.
The restarant is situated in the heart of the latin quarter on Bd Saint-Germain, which is one of the place I enjoy the most in Paris. Walking in this neighbourhood on a Saturday evening and entering the restarant just takes you away.
As I stated earlier it is not the best place to eat but usually you cant go wrong with huitre, so this time I had a mixed plate of huitres for starter - quiet expensive compared to Brussels 29€, but you can choose cheaper alternatives. The oysters were great and I just loved it - I knew I had to take 12 ones because Kaija and her sister naturally wanted to taste mine. Well as one of my friends said "you dont enjoy huitres before you pass the big 30" - so they were not impressed:) Kaija´s sis had a very good onion soup - but Kaija didnt enjoy her starter.
Compared to the other times I had been up there, we arrived pretty late. This ment that we were in a long line the most of the day. The view over Paris from this point is amazing. One of the best things here are the different types of people that you meet - and most of the people are in a jolly mood. Yes you have the ones that feel forced to enter, like my girlfriend this time and the mothers with their kids, but most of the people love to do it. And when you are up there why not enjoy.
