Hotel Max Paris 14
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48°49’40.6452″N, 2°19’47.6976″E

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Boulangerie (Bakery) Near Hotel Max
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48°49’40.5480″N, 2°19’49.4652″E

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Charles de Gaulle Paris Terminal 2C
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49°0’8.7804″N, 2°34’37.8624″E

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Air Canada Toronto Pearson Airport
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43°40’38.4708″N, 79°38’3.1020″W

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Via Rail Toronto Union Station
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43°38’44.1744″N, 79°22’45.2280″W

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Via Rail Station London
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42°58’52.8096″N, 81°14’48.5268″W
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Home – 914 Country Club Crescent
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42°56’59.4852″N, 81°14’55.6908″W

Today we head home to London. It’s been a wonderful trip. A bit of a whirlwind on some fronts, but we thoroughly enjoyed our adventures.

It was fitting on our last day in Paris that a miracle happened… Emily was out of bed at 6:00am & on the subway to join us for breakfast at our favourite boulangerie & then come to the airport with us to make sure we got there OK & to say goodbye for now.

Photo above  – we were the first ones in the bakery this morning – there just a couple of minutes after it was opened. The smell of freshly baked breads & pastry delights was amazing!

After our petit dejeuner we walked for  15 minutes from our hotel to the metro station Denfert-Rochereau to catch the RER B train for a 45 minute ride to Charles de Gaulle Airport. We waited for a couple of trains to go by as they were packed full of people going to work and we didn’t want to try to wrestle our suitcases on. Fortunately that train comes every 5 minutes and we were able to get on with our suitcases and get a seat.

We had checked in online yesterday so all we had to do was attach some tags to our checked bags & head on through security.

It was difficult to say goodbye to Emily, knowing that she is going to be living there for a while & not just coming home in a few weeks.

She is pursuing her dream & we are happy for her to have the opportunity to do that.  After all, Catherine & I each did something similar (i. e. moved far away from our parents) when we were around that age, so who are we to suggest that she shouldn’t do the same thing. Besides, Paris is certainly not the worst place to be & the logistics of getting there from London & not as complicated as getting out to Victoria,  BC or somewhere in the USA.

Photo above  – on the plane to Toronto.  I wonder if they’ll be serving us champagne & filet mignon on this flight.

No gastronomic delights on this flight but it arrived in Toronto a few minutes ahead of schedule & we were even able to catch an earlier train home to London.

We were happy to be at home to sleep in our own bed & think about all the wonderful things we have done over the past month.

Tomorrow we’re back to porridge, old clothes & a pile of laundry.

Maybe the day after that, I’ll spend some time taking a closer look at this brochure I picked up along the way.

Cheers!

Where to next?

Hotel Max Paris 14
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48°49’40.6452″N, 2°19’47.6976″E

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Emily’s Hotel @ Notre Dame
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48°51’8.8380″N, 2°20’49.4844″E

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Cafe Aux Tour des Notre-Dame
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48°51’13.0104″N, 2°20’58.1856″E

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Luxembourg Gardens Paris
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48°50’44.9700″N, 2°20’14.2332″E

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Restaurant Emily
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48°51’35.5212″N, 2°17’49.0992″E

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Eiffel Tower Photos
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48°51’35.3268″N, 2°17’35.3832″E

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Trocadero Photo Spot
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48°51’37.5588″N, 2°17’29.4828″E

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Hotel Max Paris 14
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48°49’40.6452″N, 2°19’47.6976″E

Today was our last full day in Paris. We took the subway to Notre-Dame to meet Emily. She wanted to show us some of her favourite spots.

Photo above  – Notre-Dame just down the street from Emily’s hotel. Much progress has been made on the restoration since we were here last year.

Photo above – we just missed the Lego tour boat!  Perhaps the next time.

Photo above – coffee at La Tour des Notre-Dame cafe right beside the cathedral.

Photo above  – Emily knows the staff & the owner well. We enjoyed one of their charcuterie plates with our coffee.

Photo above – one of the cathedral’s gargoyles was “spitting” on the tourists when it was raining so workers put a muzzle on it! 🙂

Photo above – we stopped in front of the cathedral for the “obligatory” selfie. It would be nice to have a Euro for every one taken during just one day!

Photo above – our next stop was at the Luxembourg Gardens to enjoy the flowers & the peace & tranquility compared to the hustle & bustle around Notre-Dame.

We all went back to our hotel to rest for a couple of hours prior to heading towards the Eiffel Tower area for an evening dinner & to view the night lights.

Photo above – we are getting quite adept & riding the subway here. People might even mistake us for locals!

Photo above  – it’s interesting to see that several of the renovated stations have installed special glass walls with sliding doors that prevent people from accessing the tracks. These doors only open when the subway train has stopped & opens its doors to let passengers on & off. I wonder if we will start to see this in North America.

Photo above – early in the evening we took the subway to the Eiffel Tower area & had dinner at cafe Emily!

Photo above – dinner was delicious & followed by creme brulee.

Photo above – the Eiffel Tower light show was very impressive. The crowd was unbelievably large & it was chaos getting through the subway station at the Trocadero. We were glad to get back to our hotel.

We have had a great time in Paris viewing the sights with Emily.

We will sleep well tonight & and tomorrow we fly home.

Cheers!

Hotel Max Paris 14
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48°49’40.6452″N, 2°19’47.6976″E

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Boulangerie (Bakery)
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48°49’40.5480″N, 2°19’49.4652″E

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Marche Aux Puces (flea market)
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48°49’40.0620″N, 2°19’57.1260″E

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Paris Opera – Palais Garnier
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48°52’16.8528″N, 2°19’55.2072″E

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Galleries Lafayette (Ostentatious Shopping Centre)
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48°52’23.1600″N, 2°19’59.0412″E

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Hotel Max Paris 14
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48°49’40.6452″N, 2°19’47.6976″E

Today, we planned to tour the Galleries Lafayette,  a major “high-end”  shopping center in Paris. We didn’t go to shop for Gucci, Versace, or Prada but instead wanted to indulge in the free elements of the place.

But first, it was important for us to get our morning treat of café creme & a delicious bakery treat from the boulangerie just a few steps from our hotel.

Photo above – the Boulangerie – neighbourhood bakery.

Photo above – inside the Boulangerie. The place was empty when we first went in & I wanted to get a photo of the bakery counter but a few minutes later it was packed with a steady stream of customers coming in to pick up their bread & other baked goods for the day.  It has so much character, great coffee & treats. It would be a dream to have a place like this at home.

After we finished our morning treat we walked just a few hundred feet to the local Sunday morning flea market. It was set up at an intersection of four streets. Two were closed for the flea market so traffic was very limited.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of the goods. A mixture of old nicknacks, cutlery, dishes, photos, small household goods & clothing. Not much different than walking through the Goodwill store close to our place in London.

Our next destination was to walk past the Paris Opera House, which was on our way to Galleries Lafayette.

Photo above – we had some entertainment on the subway ride to the Opera House.

Photo above  – the Paris Opera House.  This place is massive & it was very busy with tourists like us, tour groups & tour buses. We had considered taking a guided tour or even getting (cheap seat) tickets to a performance this weekend but we are running low on energy so we opted for the exterior walk-around instead.

Photo above  – these streetlights at the Opera would look good on each side of our garage doors. Maybe there is something similar available on Amazon.  I’ll check when I get home.  🙂

Photo above  – the glass dome inside Galleries Lafayette.

The shopping center is not all that impressive on the outside, but inside the building is a completely different story…

The dome is spectacular. The center of the main shopping area is open for 6 stories. You get a slightly different view from each floor but it’s hard to access the railings around the center on each floor from levels 2-6 because that space is taken up by counters selling jewellery, perfume, flashy handbags, silk scarves & such.

I looked at some price tags & quickly realized that we were way out of our league here. Many items had prices of 500€, 1,000€ & more. There was a huge lineup at the Louis Vuitton section.  Such a contrast compared to the flea market we were at less than 2 hours earlier! Not for us – let’s go up to the rooftop to get a view of the city. That doesn’t cost anything.

Photo above  – the rooftop viewing area.

Photo above – it was very interesting how much of the city we could see from this location.

Photo above – I love the zoom on this camera – the Eiffel Tower is approximately 3.5 kilometers away! We’re planning on going there early  tomorrow evening to catch the light show. 

Photo above – another zoom from the rooftop. Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre – approximately 2 kilometers away.

After all that touring around we were pretty tired so Catherine & I went back to our hotel for a rest & Emily went back to her place to work on her new business project. We met early in the evening for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Photo above – a hearty & warming noodle soup at the Asian restaurant across the street from “our” boulangerie.

Tomorrow we go on a tour of the Notre-Dame area with Emily & then hope to cap off our last night in Paris with dinner at a cafe somewhere near the Eiffel Tower.

Cheers!

Bordeaux Train Station
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44°49’35.5008″N, 0°33’22.3488″W

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Paris Montparnasse Train Station
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48°50’27.1176″N, 2°19’12.1404″E

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Hotel Max Paris 14
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48°49’40.6452″N, 2°19’47.6976″E

Today was a pretty easy day. Our train to Paris was not until 12:00 noon & our hotel was right across the street from the station.

We went to the restaurant next door for a light breakfast & then back to our room to finish packing & relax for awhile.

Photo above – the Bordeaux Blogger (limited edition prints are available to order)    🙂

Thankfully the weather was much better today. Although it really doesn’t matter much to us because we won’t be driving anymore.

Photo above  – Hall 1 Bordeaux Station

When we enter a train station in a city in France we really notice the difference from home. These stations are happening places… as busy as most airports but without all the security barriers. However,  it’s not uncommon to see groups of 2-3 policemen walking through the station with machine guns & body armour. It’s a bit unsettling but people seem to be used to their presence. I don’t think I’ll be asking them if they would pose for a photo for my blog.

Our train departed right on time. This particular train was configured differently than the others we have taken. Seats are set up as 3 together, the aisle & then singles on the opposite side. It was also a double decker & very long. It was fast & smooth but because of the seating arrangement it was not as comfortable as the others we have taken.

We arrived at Montparnasse Station just after 2:30 & took the metro to the Alesia stop just a couple of blocks from our hotel.

Photo above  – Hotel Max

This is a nice hotel. The bedroom & bathroom are small but modern, comfortable & clean. It’s in a great neighbourhood location with shops & restaurants & public transit.

Photo above  – the view of “our” neighbourhood from our hotel room window. We really like staying in these small neighbourhood hotels. It gives you a sense of what it’s like to actually live in the area. There is a boulangerie (bakery) across the street & a fruit & vegetable store on the opposite street. Also within a few steps is a beauty salon, a wine store, a convenience store & a realtor. What else does anyone need?

After resting for a while Emily came to see us & we went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant just a block from our hotel. She had lots to tells us about her first few weeks of starting to live in Paris.

Photo above – Catherine & Emily catching up over a cup of tea after dinner.

Tomorrow we will explore a bit more of Paris with Emily.

Cheers!

Jardins du Sarlat
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44°53’40.1964″N, 1°13’5.0016″E

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Avis Car Rental Bordeaux Train Station
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44°49’24.5388″N, 0°33’12.7692″W

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Ibis Hotel Bordeaux Train Station
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44°49’35.1120″N, 0°33’24.5376″W

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La Taverne du Midi Bordeaux Train Station
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44°49’36.0840″N, 0°33’23.9904″W

Today we travelled back to Bordeaux from Sarlat. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive. About 1/2 the time was on secondary roads & the other half on freeways.

We were sad to say goodbye to our b&b  hosts Wendy & David in Sarlat.  They were fun people to be with. We also enjoyed visits from their cat Tiggy. A very friendly female that Catherine would have loved to take home with her.

We saw Tiggy sitting in the doorway looking out over the front step. Wendy said the cat often sat like that & it reminded her of T. S. Eliot’s poem “Practical Cats” which the play “Cats” is based on.

I managed to catch a photo of Tiggy in her familiar pose & then turned it into a “watercolour”.  Wendy loved it so much that she is going to get it printed & framed.

Photo above  – Tiggy contemplates her morning.

All of the GPS locations at the beginning of the blog look like we did a lot today but we really didn’t.

Sarlat to Bordeaux was the biggest portion of our trip. The Avis car rental depot is across the street from the “backside” of Bordeaux Train Station.

The Ibis Hotel is across the street from the front of the train station & the restaurant we had dinner at tonight is right beside our hotel. So, all told, we probably took 10 minutes to walk from the Avis depot to our hotel & 1 minute from our hotel to the restaurant.

The drive back to Bordeaux was mostly uneventful except that it rained pretty hard while we were on the freeway. The speed limit on a major portion of the freeway trip was 130 km/hr but I didn’t have the nerve to get up to that speed in such a small car & especially during a rainstorm.

We returned the car to Avis at 12:30, well before our 2:00pm due time. In total we have driven Opie the Opal 773 kilometers.  

I actually thought we had driven further but I guess that’s because several of the narrow roads we were on were “white knuckle” adventures.  Oh, & I almost forgot that Opie actually had a 15 kilometer piggyback ride on a tow truck when we had our flat tire.  It’s hard to believe that the tow truck ride was only 15 km. It was so hair raising that it felt like 50 or even 100km!

Good news from Avis – they will refund the cost of the tire to us! Maybe I should have asked them to refund a day’s rental fee as well seeing how that whole misadventure took about 5 hours. But, I think I won’t push my luck on that one.

Photo above – Bordeaux train station. Our Ibis hotel is right across the road from it. That will make tomorrow a lot easier.

Photo above  –  our hotel.  Very reasonable price & clean & comfy.

Photo above  –  La Taverne du Midi.  Our “favourite” restaurant in Bordeaux!  We have eaten here 3 times in the last 10 days. The service & the food is great & the prices are very reasonable. Breakfast here tomorrow morning.

Our train to Paris tomorrow leaves at noon so we will have an easy morning. Time for lots of coffee & maybe 2 croissants!

Cheers!