Parisian Sights

Instead of taking the train from CDG to Gare du Nord, I stayed on one more stop and got off at the Châtelet – Les Halles station. This station, combined with its sister Metro station, Les Halles, is the largest underground metro station in the world. It gets the Les Halles name from the central market that used to be at this location. I wandered around the new shopping area, Forum des Halles, but quickly lost interest - shopping is not my thing. Instead, I found a magnificent church, Saint-Eustache located nearby and walked inside. The church was built in the 16th century but the parish dates back to the 13th century.

After the church, I thought, "I wonder if the Louvre is nearby?" and I typed Louvre into Google Maps on my Blackberry. Sure enough, it was only a couple blocks away and the GPS pointed me in the right direction. I headed over and figured I would spend the rest of the afternoon in the Louvre. However, before you come to Paris to take in the Louvre, there's something you should know: the Louvre is open every day of the week except Tuesday. Today is Tuesday - go figure. To cool my jets, I dipped them in the reflecting pool (no fish were harmed in the making of this movie) near the entrance to the Louvre and plotted my next course.

I debated between heading out to Versailles and staying in central Paris. The latter won as I could check off some more sights ;) and we may get out to Versailles at some point later. I caught the M1 line from the Louvre to Champs-Élysées and quickly snapped some pics before heading back on the M1 line the other way to the Bastille. Word to the wise: if you want to catch a picture of the Arc de Triomphe you'll need to step lively. The Parisian drivers don't have a lot of patience.

I didn't realize the Bastille is the "former Bastille" (probably should have as I've been here before) and there is just the Place de la Bastille and the Opera Bastille there now. Disappointed and somewhat tired, I decided to rest and rejuvenate at a nearby cafe, la Caveteria at 41 Boulevard Bourdon. With a nod to Anthony Edwards, I ordered a pernod for an aperitif and then selected their Salade Estivale. I can't tell you all that was in it but it was close to a chef salad with turkey, avocado, tomato, radishes and some vegetable that was close to eggplant but different - very tasty. As you can see, I'm no food connosieur but the food was good here and the owner was friendly. A quick google search suggests I may have stumbled upon a little treasure in Paris that has local character, a great proprietor and good food.