Paris: The Finale

Our last day in Paris happened to land on May Day which is a government holiday. We worried the city might be closed down, though we had read that there were some events going on in the Bastille.  What better chance to check out an arrondissement we had yet to see.  Our five day Métro passes were expired by now, so we took off on foot to get some last impressions of this beautiful city. 

 We decided to take a route we hadn't walked yet, and within a couple minutes we were in the Jardin des Plantes.

Bonjour Monsieur Scooter

Anson in front of the Place de la Bastille and the metro stop.

We loved the quintessential Art Nouveau metro signs.

We had yet to stop in to a pâtisserie, and I thought it would be a sin to return home without doing so.  Luckily this place lured us in with this display. It was so hard to decide which of the pastries to try.  Ah, to have that kind of problem every day.

I had to try the macarons that everyone has been gushing about on their blogs this last year. I can see now why they are so popular. I had a caramel salted butter macaron, it had a thin egg-shell like outside with a soft inside and a thick caramel filling. Delicious. Anson had an Opéra cake--almond sponge cake with layers of ganache.  The little package in back was our take-home pastries.

The Seine again, with my creative flourish.

The entrance to our apartment building. We really loved our location and the apartment.  In that short week it came to feel like home and we both get wistful looking back at the photos.

The cool old windy staircase that led to our front door, it was only wide enough for one person at a time.

We watched the restaurant downstairs, 3 Petites Pâtes, throughout the week and said hi to them as they were getting ready to open.  We couldn't leave without trying their pasta dishes  before we headed off to the café one last time.  

I noticed a color theme when I got home and piled all my little souvenirs on my desk...

A Bientôt Paris, you've won us over completely.