We had a relaxed breakfast in the hotel garden this morning. Hot chocolate for me, tea for Jeff, fresh orange juice and a basket of croissant, baguette, cinnamon swirls and a chocolate chip buttery bun with jams.

Jeff wanted to relax this morning, so I went “walk about” with plans to meet him for lunch. I stumbled upon the most beautiful park fountain and wrought iron staircase covered in flowers alongside the Ecole Polytechnique.

Pictures and words cannot describe or properly capture how lovely it was.

I took pictures of some of the buildings and doors as I headed towards the Seine River.

Once down at the river I crossed the bridge to Notre Dame.  A young couple stopped and took my picture with Notre Dame in the back ground.  I walked all the way around Notre Dame to take pictures, including a steam punk, bicycle powered ride. Then back across the bridge and down some stairs to the barge area at river level where I took some more pics of Notre dame.  The church is so huge and there is so much going on, wrought iron, stained glass, gargoyles, spires, it is a little overwhelming.

I spent a lot time looking for Shakespeare and company and did not find it. I did find a lovely little park in a lane between some apartments where I stopped to rest and write for half an hour.

Eventually I made my way to the Cafe Royal Jussieu to meet Jeff, where we lunched on cheese and ham omelettes with mixed greens and french fries.

We relaxed all afternoon and then went out for dinner at Le Decartes and had the best French Onion soup I have ever tasted. The girl serving us was delightfully funny. So far we have found Parisian people to be really lovely and totally helpful in dealing with language issues. We walked around Place de la Contrascarpe, which is a small square surrounded by bars, restaurants and stores. We went and got a couple of things from the store and came back to the hotel. Time for bed now.