June 23, 2011

Paris (Part 3)

Friday was our last day in Paris with Jennifer and Adrian. The next morning they were leaving for Normandy and we were headed to meet our friends, the Boyds at Disneyland.

Phil and I were able to practice some of our own french then we stopped to get the breakfast goods at the bakery. I learned that food words, numbers and your pointing finger can get you a long way!

Our plan was to spend the morning exploring the neighborhood where our hotels were located. We were going to walk a few blocks to the Bastille Market, pick up lunch and head out to a local park to explore and enjoy a picnic. After we walked about 2 miles in the rain we learned that the market was closed. This was the first Rick Steves fail of the trip. It ended up working out. We explored the Bastille area a bit.
The Bastille

We spotted this hometown restaurant called .....Indiana. How random and picture worthy!

I had found the park we were visiting online on a blog I was reading prior to the trip about fun places to go in Paris for free. The park is called Buttes des Chaumont. It was simple to find with its own metro stop. The only downside was there were 148 steps to get up from the Metro!

It was quite a large park for being in the middle of a city. It even had a waterfall. Our favorite part though was perched up on the hill in this gazebo.From that hill you could see Montmarte and Sacred Heart. Over to the left.


We noticed throughout our visit that Paris has some signs that are different than the USA. Here are some examples that cracked us up:
1. We thought this sign meant no children allowed. Instead it means that you are nearing the end of a pedestrian only street so now cars can drive on the road so you should watch out.
2. At perfect dog height this sign is a picture of a dog pooping with a red line through it. So no dogs pooping here...I guess.
3. This is a sign outside a blocked off area with a stick in the middle. The sign shows a dog peeing on the stick. So I think this is the dog bathroom area.

Again, so strange but helpful for people who have dogs in Paris and don't speak or read French.


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