Paris - Take Two

On our second day in Paris, we decided to take it a bit more slowly. We started with breakfast at Laduree on the Champs Elyees, where we had an assortment of pastries - plain croissants, filled croissants (chocolate and fruit), sugared brioche, and a cinnamon currant bun - butter and jam, and yummy coffee. Laduree is a very dignified patisserie, and I didn't think anyone there would appreciate me whipping out the camera to take pictures of my food, so you'll just have to use your imaginations to picture my lovely breakfast. I also bought a box of Parisian macarons to eat on our train ride later that day. The boxes at Laduree are so pretty that I saved it and brought it home with me. I'm trying to think of some way to use it in my house - maybe I'll frame it and hang it somewhere. I just love Parisian macarons - they are like two meringue cookies put together with filling in the middle. I bought chocolate and raspberry. The chocolate were definitely better!

After leaving Laduree, we walked down the Champs Elysees for a little while. It was relatively peaceful at that time of day, and I was able to get this picture of TMT with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. He was excited to have some evidence that we did more than eat in Paris.

After breakfast, we headed off to do some major shopping. I was dying to go to Longchamp. My mom and sister brought me back a bag from Longchamp when they went to Paris last summer, and I wanted to see about getting another bag in a larger size. I felt that my navigation skills, which had been severely challenged the day before, were vindicated because we found Longchamp on our first try. I did some shopping and had my first experience with VAT refund. This is a fantastic deal! I kept telling TMT what great deals I was getting because I would get a 20% refund on whatever I bought. The only catch was that I had to spend a certain amount of money, which was fairly substantial, in each store, which wasn't too hard for me! After Longchamp, we visited a string of stores recommended in my Chic Shopping Paris book. I don't know what the lady who wrote the book was smoking, but every store she included was ridiculously expensive. I was prepared to spend some money on this trip, in fact I only asked for money for my birthday so that I could shop in Europe, but this was just beyond what I had imagined. I had fun poking through a store that carries only antique silver and a store that sells vintage jewelry, but I could not justify purchases at these stores. I did make a return trip to a store, 78, that I had spotted the day before when we walked through the Ile St. Louis. I had purchased a dress and some gifts from 78, and I spotted a very cute and stylish leather jacket there. I decided to wait on purchasing it and return before we left Paris if I was still thinking about the jacket. Well, you know it - when our second day in Paris rolled around, I was still thinking about that jacket. I love it, and I have already gotten a ton of wear out of it! After this major purchase, I was ready for some lunch. I spotted a restaurant that the Amateur Goumet had recommended, and we decided to give him a chance to redeem himself after our fiasco at Chez Omar the night before.

This is Le Petit Plateau. It doens't look like much, but we got the best deal there! For 11 euros each, we got a lunch special of quiche, salad, cheese plate, and wine or Coke. Maybe I was just hungry, but I thought it was excellent. Here are some photos of our food.

Notice the bread basket on the table. We sat at a little sidewalk table, and while we were eating, this homeless lady just came right up to the table and took our bread. She just laughed and laughed as she was doing it, and we just let her have it. She left us a few pieces, but those of you who know TMT know that he did not touch any of the bread that she left!

While we were eating lunch, we saw a real-life fashion shoot. I, of course being a celeb junkie, just pulled out the camera and started taking pictures of the super-cute male model. I have no idea who he was, but the fact that he was participating in a photo shoot for what I imagine, based on the clothes, was a major fashion designer was enough for me. These pictures aren't great, but the photographer and stylists kept getting in the way!

TMT and I enjoying our lunch.

After lunch, we hit a few more stores. Sabre had lots of reasonably priced, cute dishes and silverware, but I didn't really need anything they had. We did go to the retail store for the oldest candle manufacturer in Europe. They had the most beautiful display of taper candles. I know that sounds weird, but I could have looked at all of colors for hours. Of course, I'm the kid who was thrilled to death with the box of 64 crayons! We brought back a fancy candle for Grandma.

That evening, we caught a train for Nice, on the French Riviera. We were actually staying in Villefranche Sur Mer, but the closest train went to Nice. On the train, we ate a picnic dinner of baguette sandwiches, chips, Cokes, and of course, our Laduree macarons. After riding backwards on this train trip, TMT decided that he wasn't such a fan of train travel!