A Day and a half in Paris

 My last day in France, and I have so many experiences to process and memories to catch up on, including meeting and spending time with two penpals.

Statue of Rouget de Lisle (wikipedia)

...rolling hills of Bourgogne where grape vines grow in neat rows...Romanesque churches, deserted castles, a cheese tower, the ruins of Cuny...and Lons-le-Saunier, with its lovely park and statue of native son and La Marseillaise author Rouget de Lisle. Unfortunately, both camera batteries are now drained, so I can't transfer photos at the moment.

Got caught in the rain without an umbrella last afternoon in the Place de la Concorde...but waiting out a soft summer shower under the trees in the Tuileries is nothing to complain about. When the rain stopped, strolled down the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe.

Today, concentrating on several sites that my husband and I didn't get to see when we visited Paris in 2002, I managed in 12 hours to do the following, starting out from my hotel in the Marais district and taking full advantage of my carnet of Métro tickets:

• Climbed the narrow, winding streets to Sacré Coeur
• Crossed the Pont Marie to the Isle St-Louis - bought most of my gifts for family and friends there and had a delicious crêpe with warm goat cheese prepared at a little place run by two women.
• Checked out Rue Cler (sorry, Rick, but it was underwhelming.)
• Took a very long walk past the Ecole Militaire, the Tour Eiffel, the Invalides, the Assemblée Nationale, the Madelaine, and the Opéra Garnier

Strolling down the Champ-de-Mars and watching the Tour Eiffel loom larger and larger...and then seeing the mass of humanity from all countries lined up to climb to the top is impressive and unforgettable.

Vraiment formidable!