Isle de la Cite & Rive Gauche

Today's journey took the route through Isle de la Cite and into Rive Gauche, the Latin Quarter.

The morning walk went south on rue Montmartre. Stopped for a breakfast of pan au chocolate (chocolate croissant) and quiche lorraine from the local boulangerie. Carrying the treasures, the next stop was a nearby Tabac cafe for an espresso standing at the bar. The cost of the espresso (at the bar) was 1.1 euro and the breakfast treats could be eaten at the same time. Left the shop, walked south again on rue Montmartre until it ended at St. Eustache church and consulted the map for the best route to Notre Dame. "Friendly Frenchman #1" stopped by to help with the directions and quickly pointed out the quickest route. He sent me east on rue Rambuteau, past the Pompidou museum, then south on rue Beaubourg. This route went past the incredible Hotel de Ville, with a glimpse of Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville.

[photo Hotel de Ville]

Crossed the Pont d'Arcole (pont is bridge) and walked a little further to Notre Dame. I moved up to Point Zero and started the Rick Steves audio tour for the walk. Enjoyed viewing the front of the building and was approached by "Paris Scam #2": woman walks up to you and asks "Do you speak English?" Said "no" (in English) and went back to my touristy action. Entered the church (free admission) with a moderate crowd. The flow was to the right because there was a service being held. So COOL! The organ music filled the air, and the priests were giving the service in French. I walked around, lit a candle for the family, enjoyed the service from several different bench seats, and left the building. The tour continues around the outside of the building and on to Ile St Louis.

It was now time for lunch, so crossed the Pont St. Louis and started to sit at a table outside of La Brasserie de L'Ile Saint Louis. The waiter asked "Boire ou Manger?" (to drink or eat) and when the response was "Manger", he directed to a table set for a meal in the back row. The plat de jour was wonderful roast beef with pureed potatoes, plus a glass of red wine. Total cost was 21.6 e (I'm going to use e for euro until I can figure out how to use the symbol on the keyboard). No hurry during the meal. In fact, the waiter walked outside of the patio and a little behind the building to have a cigarette. Paid the bill and walked across rue St. Louis-en-L'Ile for some of the world famous glace (ice cream) at Berthillon's. I had vanilla cone, yummy! It wasn't as white as US Vanilla ice cream, was in a waffle cone (small) and was worth every bit of the 3e.

(TO BE CONTINUED