The Islands and a Cruise Down the River

Bonjour!

Paris was finally nice to us and gave us a nice day yesterday. It wasn’t sunny or warm but I was so happy not to be wearing my rain jacket. We set out for the islands yesterday so we could see Notre Dame de Paris and the other attractions close by. The islands are really cute and fun to navigate. Lots of cafés, restaurants and street sellers (which actually had really cool and pretty stuff for amazing prices). Notre Dame de Paris was truly beautiful and FREE! From there we navigated the streets in search of lunch and after experiencing a few heart attacks when looking at the prices on certain menus (the “Palais de Justice” was nearby, lawyers and judges=money) we found this quaint, completely authentic Italian restaurant with really good prices. We both started with the minestrone soup (which was big enough to be a full meal) and then I had a margarita pizza and dad the lasagna. Pizza was sooo great (only ate half since I was stuffed from the soup) and I really loved the restaurant, everyone is seated close by and max 20-25 people can be in there at once.

Notre Dame de Paris

One of the things I had set out to do before even beginning the trip was trying ice cream at Berthillon’s (located on Ile St.Louis) since everyone says it delicious and all travel books tell you to go since they only use natural ingredients. Well, you can just imagine my excitement yesterday when I knew the time had come…..complete fail, place is only open wed-sun. Major sadness. At least we found a café close by that sold the ice-cream (it was fantastic..had dark chocolate and coconut).

After spending the afternoon walking around we went for dinner at around 8 to some Belgian place which was tasty (grilled salmon was my choice) and then set off for the Eiffel Tower once more since we got rained out on our first try. I love the thing. Every hour the lights flash and its quite a sight. We then decided to take a cruise along the Seine River (tons of companies offer cruises like this, we chose one where you could sit on top so we could see clearly). Very cool activity and prices were decent, I think it was 11.50 per person.

We visited the Montmartre area today and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. Had a wonderful peach crepe for lunch. We of course went to see the iconic Moulin Rouge brasserie and then walked home instead of hopping on the metro since it was so nice and my legs were feeling up for some exercise. I have truly been enjoying Europe and its delicacies but I can tell my body is demanding its regular routing of exercise and healthy foods (I’ve even sent my mom a list of foods I MUST have when I return on Saturday, ie. greek yogurt, berries, smoothie recipes).

Versailles is on the menu tomorrow (I am quite excited for this adventure).

Bonne Journée!

SB xox