Starbucks Extraordinaire!

Sunday, July 10

Sunday just felt like a day to wander again and discover. I had a list of places I wanted to see so I mapped out our route. We decided to take the metro to the 'Opera' station & then begin our walk, which we did. But instead of a quick left, we turned right, and went around several blocks before we found it!

By this time, the morning was already very warm and we happily saw the Starbucks across the street. I've been in many a Starbucks through the years but this one definitely was the ultimate! Gorgeous by any standard with iron everywhere, marble columns, chandeliers, comfy easy chairs...no wonder the prices are through the roof! We bought a mug just to prove we'd been there!

even the ceiling!

endless bikes for hire

Gord-size!

Paper-cutting

Banque de France

Styles for men

hidden passageways...this one was closed on Sunday

La Defense

Saturday July 9...evening

We returned to our hotel and then ventured out to La Defense. Ben & Alison had gone on our previous trip and highly recommended it for the view you can get of Paris if you take the elevator to the top.  The metro ride was quite long and as you surface from the underground, you are really taken by surprise by an entirely foreign side of Paris than you've seen before!

Just in case its not obvious by the last photo, La Defense is closed for renovations so we couldn't even go up...very disappointed! We wandered around the area a little, found the Monoprix and bought me a linen cross-body purse because the zipper broke on my purse on the second day, which can be a petty thief's dream! The area is huge and many families were there with young children, teenage sweethearts arm-in-arm, lots of people-watching.

We walked what seemed like forever and finally found the metro to head back to our hotel and supper...

An Afternoon in Montmartre...

Saturday, July 9 continued...

We walked back to our place to drop off my bottle carrier, freshen up and then took the metro all the way to Absessess, in Montmartre. Surprisingly, the gypsies we'd had to deal with on previous trips, who usually attack tourists for handouts, didn't seem to be around. Perhaps Paris has really worked on that issue.

My first mission was to find a specific antique shop in Montmartre that kept popping up on Pinterest. (note to self: the reality is usually not as it appears in the Pinterest picture...)

l'Objet qui Parle

What's not to love?! The reality...

Upon entering the store, you realize the entire space is about 8' by 10', crammed full of stuff but I was fortunate to find this...

what I've wanted to find for years!

Sacre-Coeur

...a police incident

...parked his car where he wasn't authorized
 so was swarmed by the police

Au Lapin Agile
(or nimble rabbit)
was a favourite hangout for struggling artists
and writers such as Picasso, Utrillo and
Guillaume Apollinaire.

carrousel at the base of the Sacre-Coeur

It was very warm and we were thirsty so we meandered our way down thru the narrow streets and smack into the fabric district...with a little manipulation on my part :)

Its a crazy system here, I went into the same store I shopped at last time and in the centre of the room is a huge table piled high with 3 metre lengths of cotton fabric, 110 - 150 cm wide and you just buy the entire piece for anywhere between 5 - 15 euro. I found 3 that I loved that I wouldn't probably find back home and was done fabric shopping.