EuroTrip: Day 5-Last Day in Paris

We both slept in this morning and it felt fantastic! I was going to get up to run a longer run, but, well, that just wasn’t going to happen. We got ready and decided to walk to the Creperie we wanted to eat at yesterday. It looked tiny all closed up yesterday but had excellent reviews, so why not?

When we made it there (only like a 10 minute walk), there were the 2 ladies running the place and us.. they let us choose a table inside (it’s still cool in the earlier hours and at night here), and we looked over the menu. Many of the menus are only in French, or with English in tiny letters under the French ones.. sometimes i just point and hope for the best, but I was thrilled to be able to mostly read what these crepes were.

Mom had never tried savory crepes before, only the sweet or fruity ones.. she thought I was exaggerating at first about how good the savory ones are.. she quickly learned I was right to sing their praises. We each got one filled with eggs, mushrooms, onions, cheese, cheese, and cheese.

DE-LIC-IOUS. We each also got a sweet one too, Mom’s was apples and cinnamon, mine was chocolate and bananas with almonds. They were delightful, but not as good as the breakfast ones.
The ladies spoke mostly French but were kind and attempted conversation with us. We enjoyed their company too. One lady cooked the crepes (she made 2 at a time in a little kitchen made just for her.. like literally no one else could stand in there with her), the other lady was the hostess/waitress/everything else. She was funny and chatty, but wouldn’t let us take her picture (“I am lots of things, but not photogenic”).

When we left we decided to walk around to all of the shops in our area.. up one street and down another, criss crossing and looking at everything anyone had for sale. There were tons of chunky boots and sandals, purses, and expensive jewelry. I almost got a pair of handmade earrings until I realized that it was only one earring, there was no match, and it alone was €45.. I thought I was being ridiculous enough to buy a pair of earrings for €45, but I couldn’t justify just one for that price (and I like symmetry too much anyway).

We walked over to the rooftop restaurant to attempt again to drink/eat there.. it’s apparently also closed on Tuesdays. Boo. So, instead we ate a burger from the place we first stopped at a few days ago (that goat cheese burger was calling my name) and then headed back towards our hotel to drop of some new clothes we purchased. We ended up walking towards the Seine River because we knew we wanted to watch the Eiffel Tower light up after sunset.

Originally Mom was all for walking all the way to the Eiffel Tower like we did yesterday (2 more miles from where we were), but I talked her into waiting along the river for a “hop on-hop off” water boat. We sat and rested our feet and took pictures until the boat showed up and then we sat in the very front to sight see everything as it came.

It let us off right in front of the Eiffel Tower (we passed under the bridge I put our locks on yesterday). We walked around the park for a bit and then went to a corner cafe to have some wine, coffee, and desert. A couple from the US sat down next to us and so we chatted with them for awhile. After we told each other stories about ourselves and our journeys, the woman (my age, maybe a little younger) teared up a bit and said, “it’s beautiful that you’re doing this with your mom. I always thought I had time to travel with my mom, but then she passed and that was taken from me. I’m happy you’re able to.” And then we both choked up because I hugged her. Whew. Damn wine.

As the sun started setting, Mom and I paid the bill and started walking to look for a good spot to watch the Eiffel Tower light up. We ended up across the street in a perfect spot that had a place for us to sit in perfect view. The lights only happen every hour on the hour and it was 9:25, so we knew the first one wouldn’t happen until 10.. so, I went to run my mile along the river while we waited so I wouldn’t have to do it when we got back to the room.

There’s something about running and having pristine views every time you turn your head. I went down to a big bridge, crossed it, came down to the lock bridge, paused my garmin to take some pictures for a couple, then restarted as I ran across, then turned back towards the spot Mom was sitting. It was my far the most spectacular mile of my life, running towards the Eiffel Tower at night.

Then, at 10:00 on the dot, the sparkly lights started! It was as magnificent as you’d imagine. I could have sat and watched that all night long, but it stopped after 5 minutes so we walked across the street and got a taxi back to the hotel. After I showered I was out like a light. Our last day in Paris was a fantastic one.