On Friday evening, after having a nice cocktail in our hotel lounge, we ventured out for dinner at a nice little bistro called Le Rouge Vif. I read a review of the bistro in the Herald Tribune about a year ago, and I kept the review as a reminder to try the place on a future visit.
First off, let me just say how great our hotel staff was. They came to the lounge to tell us "...zat zee taxi we ordered for you for 7:50 p.m. has not shown up, but not to worry because we have ordered anuzzer taxi. We have also called zee restaurant to explain zee situation and to tell zem to hold zee table because you will be about ten minutes late." Damn...I LOVE good service! And, for that matter, forget the French lessons. Just teach me to speak English with a French accent (only kidding Charlotte!)!
So, our dinner was very good. I just love the bistros with the menu on the chalkboard. The owner of the place just set the chalkboard down on chairs by our table, we ordered, then he moved the board to a chair by another table so they could order. We had some classic bistro food, a little vin rouge, some nice dessert, and walked out of the place smelling like garlic cloves.
Just before we left - while I was visiting the little garçon's room - Mrs. TBF was waiting for me out on the sidewalk just outside the restaurant. Suddenly, the owner came out and gave her an apron with the restaurants name on it. I'm telling you, it made Mrs. TBF's day!
We were feeling a bit sluggish and bloated after dinner, so we decided to walk back toward the hotel. The restaurant was in Saint Germain by the Musée D'Orsay, and we walked up to the Seine so that we could walk along the bank. I'm still not sure which one's the Right Bank and which one's the Left Bank. We walked on the side that the Louvre is on. Is that the Right Bank? Somebody help me here.
At first we thought we'd walk part of the way and jump onto the Metro at some point, but the scenery was so nice that we just kept walking. Before we knew it, we were back on the Champs Élysées. We made a quick stop in the Virgin Megastore where I bought Kate Bush's first CD in twelve years (can't stop listening to it!), and then we walked the final couple of minutes to Rue de Berri. Ahhhh...home at last! All in all we walked almost four miles (I just measured it on our Streetwise Paris map), or about six kilometers. The fact that I did this by choice is a far cry from the "Chicago" TBF of five years ago. Back then I walked our dog, but all other walking was deemed unnecessary and strongly discouraged. While we were walking along the Seine, Mrs. TBF said, "...I really love Euro-[TBF]!
2 comments:
Sounds like a great trip--Paris rocks. Oh, and Musee D'Orsay and St Germain=Left Bank, and Louvre=Right Bank...
You guys are really making me have Paris fever! Now I only have to work on significant other to deem a trip there would be necessary.
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