The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 4 - Paris

The sun was too good to last. The weather report said that today was supposed to be cool and rainy ... and they nailed it! After seeing how much ground we covered yesterday in a short time, we did not feel too bad about leaving the house at the crack of noon!

Since this is Janet's last day in Paris, we have the last two "must-see" sites to visit -- Notre Dame and the Musee d'Orsay. Not a problem. There is a major interior renovation going on at Notre Dame. A large section in the center was closed off but we could still get a sense of the scale of the church.

I overdose on religious architecture very quickly, so we wandered through the streets of the Ile St. Louis, a small island in the Seine behind the Ile de la Cite, the island that houses Notre Dame. These two islands are where Paris originally started and, not surprisingly, have the oldest houses in the city.

Our motive in making the Ile de St Louis tour was really to track down a gelato shop that Margene had heard about. We found it and had an Italian flashback. Gelato is SO good! Having handled dessert, we looked for a little restaurant for lunch. France has lots of options at the upper and lower ends of the food chain but not that much in the middle. We just are not hungry enough to justify $30 each for lunch, so the search can take awhile ... but we found a creperie that filled the bill perfectly.

By the time we finished lunch, it had started spitting rain, so after a quick detour past the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, we caught the Metro to the Musee d'Orsay for an immersion in French impressionism. It was a good day to be inside and when we saw the line waiting to get in the place, we really appreciated that our three-day passes let us in immediately through a separate entrance.

By the time we left the house with Sylvie and Pascal for dinner, it was raining for real. Their choice was an Argentinian restaurant they had heard good things about ... and we agree. Tomorrow morning is about packing and getting back on the road. Janet heads for home and Margene and I are off to Brittany.

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