Our last full day in Paris.  Fortunately for us, it turned into the most beautiful day of our trip - 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!  It being a Saturday, we decided to make our way over to the Latin Quarter to the market at St. Germain des Pres (on Blvd St Germain right at the Metro station Maubert Mutualite at Place Maubert.  Being a true post-baby boomer child who grew up in a suburban environment, my experience with open air markets was minimal.  Let me describe it for you this way - as we were exiting the Metro, we were still a good 100 yards from the surface when I was overwhelmed with this incredible smell of pork, fresh fish, and vegetables.  Normally it is difficult for suburban Americans to experience the smell of vegetables since we usually shop at "Super-Mega-Groceries," where you can't smell a fruit or vegetable until you pick it up and hold it close to your face.  Well, it was quite the opposite here.  One could blindfold oneself and be able to shop solely by aroma!  I could get used to shopping at a place like that on a regular basis!

From there, we walked across the Seine L'Ile St Louis and then on to the Marais for some shopping.  As I mentioned, we are expecting our first baby in the Spring and I had found some stores that specialize in kids furniture and toys.  After wondering around for about an hour, we stumbled on C'Est Ma Chambre (45, rue des Archives 01-48-87-26-67) and Marais Plus.  Although there was some interesting stuff (ESPECIALLY the wooden toys and furniture at C'Est Ma Chambre!), there wasn't anything there that we COULDN'T do without.  Actually, it because the stuff we did like, we had no way of getting home without taking out a second mortgage to ship it!  We continued to meander through the Marais, heading back to the Seine.  At one point, Kathie forced me into a chocolate shop, something she regretted later as I bought more chocolate than can be consumed in a year (the 15" high chocolate baby bottle was my personal favorite!). 

We had lunch on the Ile St Louis and got to experience what Paris in the springtime is like as the book vendors, artisans and street performers were drawn out of the woodwork by the gorgeous weather.  We made our way onto L'Ile De La Cite and headed to our last site, Ste-Chapelle (4 bd du Palais, 01-43-54-30-09, Metro: Cite).  This is definitely a place you want to visit during the day-time on a clear day while the sun is still high in the sky!  With the sunlight streaming through the stained glass, you could really get the heavenly sensation the artisans were striving to create.  Although you are allowed to take pictures (no flash, though), I would almost say "don't bother."  Unless you are a professional with the correct equipment, you'll never be able to capture the essence of the beauty you are experiencing - buy LOTS of postcards!

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up and change for dinner. 

It seemed like just getting to dinner was an adventure.  Before leaving the States, I had selected two restaurants from a recent Wine Spectator magazine article on Paris that were listed as phenomenal food and wine lists, without astronomical prices: Bistrot du Sommelier (8^th Arr) and Willi's Wine Bar (1^st Arr).  Looking at my notes before we left the hotel, I saw that Bistrot was at 97 bd Haussmann.  Although I didn't know WHERE that was, I figured that since it was a low number, we could just start at the Arc d'Triomphe and then walk until we found it.  BIG MISTAKE!  Unlike in the U.S., Parisian addresses do not reflect the block that you are at, meaning, we had to go past 97 addresses before we found our hotel - quite a trek!  Then, when we found it, wouldn't you know it, but it was closed.  Maybe someone can explain this one to me - on a Saturday night at 9:00, why was there hardly a soul on the streets and every restaurant closed or looking like it was closed? 

We decided to push on to Willi's Wine Bar (13, rue des Petits Champs 75001, 33-1-42-61-05-09), which at this point was about nine blocks away, but after all the walking we had done, seemed right next door.  Needless to say, it was worth the effort!  We had tremendous service (they all spoke English), and every course of nouveau continental cuisine was almost a religious experience!  And for me, I though I had died and gone to heaven with their wine lists - almost all Rhone wines dating back 25 years or more, and at great prices!  The only thing that was a LITTLE disappointing (and I'm reaching, here), was that the majority of the guests were English, so we lost a little on the French atmosphere.  Still, I highly recommend it for a great dining experience at a reasonable price (800 ff for two with four courses, drinks, and a top of the line Rhone wine).

We managed to stagger out (with me doing most of the staggering) at around 12:30 and made our way back to our hotel.  Fortunately, Kathie had already done the lion's share of packing that afternoon while I was fumbling around the Catacombs, because we were in NO shape to pack at that point!

Tomorrow: Adieu to Paris