Last Dinner with Patrice

After a long day of running around, I had plans to meet Patrice for dinner at Les Marroniers. Don and Gina were really tired so they stayed in for the evening packing and stuff.

Patrice is off on holiday this week to London and the South of France, so I'll probably not see him again on this trip. Dinner was good, and we had the cheese plate for dessert again, even though I always have to end up eating most of it.
But thanks again Patrice for being such a great host and for the very nice champagne start-of-the-evenings on your awesome roof. I don't think I would have seen the port, the Royal Palace, the covered arcades, and the bar with the nudie shower show without your fantastic tour guide abilities. Au Bientot Patrice!

The Very Long Walk part un

Oi! Today I walked just about 12-15 miles (it's hard to track what with all the winding streets and all) and saw a lot of different things, so I'm posting in chunks.

This morning was a little rainy, so I set off umbrella in hand to meet David's friend Patrice by the entrance to the pyramid by the Louvre. Along the way, I managed to send a poor American woman in the wrong direction when she asked me where she could find the Creperie St. Germain. Ooops! And she was only half-a-block away too.

I met Patrice, and off we went. He was an extremely great guide and, after telling me in perfect english that he couldn't speak english well (and with instructions from David), really encouraged me to practice conversing in french. Let's see, he works for the government, is a native Parisian, and likes Washington DC.

He started off by showing me the grounds of Le Palais Royal, which were really beautiful, with long walkways canopied by trees. The gardens used to be a popular place for prostitutes, but it's been cleaned up and is surrounded by luxury boutiques and very expensive restaurants. It was very quiet and empty, which is nice considering we were close to the Louvre, which was filled to the brim.
From there we walked a little further and through some covered shopping arcades specializing in antiques, trough St. Eustache, to the Rue de Monterguell...