Last Day in Paris

Our last day in Paris was not terribly exciting. It was just easy and simple. We tried to do things that we didn’t have time to do during the week. So we basically went from one end of Paris to the next. We spent a lot of time underground in the metro. And pretty much every time we rode the metro today we also got some performers who either sang to a boom box or played an instrument in our car. We even had an entire band!!

This morning we went to a well-known flea market called Marché aux Puces that was recommended by Brittany’s guide book. It fun just browsing the items. I ended up buying a really pretty purple scarf and Brittany got a pair of grey flats and two scarves. I always wanted a French scarf, so now I have one from a Parisian flea market!

After our morning shopping excursion, we wanted to go to this fashion museum that I’ve read a lot about. However, once we got there, we saw that it was closed. So instead we headed to the Champs-Élysée and ate lunch at a French fast food chain called “Quick.” It just tasted like your standard fast-food. And unfortunately we didn’t realize that you had to ask for ketchup so our fries were rather bland. But it was still fun having a meal for only 4 euros which is quite rare in Paris.

We hopped back on the metro once again and headed to Cimetiè re du Père-Lachaise which is the famous cemetery that is the burial place of many famous people, including Jim Morrison. It’s also huge! We walked around a bit until we finally found the burial place of Oscar Wilde. His grave has hundreds of lipstick marks all over it from women kissing it. We looked online later to figure out why people are kissing his grave and the only answer we could come up with is that Oscar Wilde was jailed for homosexuality and could not openly love. Also another theory was that women just really liked his wit and writings, and his rebellion personality. Either way it was neat reading what people graffitied onto his grave and notes that were left around it as well. We also paid respect to Edith Piaf’s burial place as well. We didn’t get to Jim Morrison’s grave for the cemetery was just too big and we didn’t have a map.


We once again went back on the metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower to visit it once more before we leave Paris tomorrow. Then we walked over to Rue Cler, a cute little street with tons of shops that open onto the cobblestone street. We had a cappacino and café au lait at Café au Marche where Rick Steves often frequents when he’s in Paris. Unfortunately, we didn’t not see him, but it was still fun ‘squandering’ our afternoon in a sidewalk café. We then bought some brie cheese at a nearby fromagerie and hopped on the metro again back towards our hotel.

There is this patisserie by our hotel that we pass every day when we’re heading to the metro stop. We finally decided to go into it tonight. Brittany got a chocolate opera cake and I got a chocolate éclair. We also got croissants to have tomorrow morning for breakfast. The pastries were, of course, divine! We also visited our favorite little grocery/liquor store and said “Bonjour!” for a final time to the owner.

Tomorrow we’re flying to Nice for some relaxation! It's supposed to rain a little on Monday, so let's hope it doesn't!