The mornings are getting harder to get up and get going after days of walking, climbing stairs, and staying up late. We are enjoying it and not stressing out about having to be any particular place at any certain time. Today is the last day that our weekly Navigo metro passes are good, so we are taking full advantage of them and using them to pick up a rental car for the last two days of our trip. On our way to pick up the car at the Orly Airport, our transfer stop was right across the street from the catacombs. The line was already long, but we decided since we were there, let’s just do it. We overheard some folks say it was around a 2 hrs wait, and as they left, two sisters from Chicago heard us speaking English and asked if this was the line for the Catacombs. They got into line behind us and we all started talking; it made the time go by so much quicker.
Russ crossed the street at one point to pick up a baguette and some Macarons. The macarons were not as good as Ladurée, but we still enjoyed them. Periodically, people would drop by and say, “I heard you speaking English and I was wondering how long you’ve been in line?”
The catacombs is a place of burial for millions of Persians, and if you’re interested in learning about them you can click the link to read more: http://www.catacombes.paris.fr/les-…/un-voyage-hors-du-temps
The entrance is at the side of a building that looks like a house, but once you're in, you descend down a circular stairway flight of 130 stairs to tunnels below. They eventually take you to through hallway after hallway after hallway...filled with bones. You don’t have access to all the halls and it’s mind-bending to think of the living walking city streets built over the dead. We thought we had heard that these tunnels only represent 1/900th of all the tunnels that run under Paris.
At the end of the Catacombs, you ascend 83 steps back to the top and are now quite far away from the entrance. We took a picture with our Chicago friends, Natasha and Erica, who suggested we go see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. First, we caught a bus to Orly to pick up our car. Sacre bleu what a busy airport! Getting the car was simple enough and with Russ’s expert race driving skills we got out of their real fast.
We dropped the car off at the apartment, took the RER to the Place du Trocadéro, the best place they say to photograph the Eiffel Tower day and night. It sparkles every hour, on the hour, for five minutes. We got off the metro, walked around the corner, and there it was. Never mind that we’d already seen ET up close, there it was lit up against the dark night sky and what a sight to behold. We were mesmerized, along with thousands of others. More pictures were taken of the Eiffel Tower with our cameras than any other site we’ve been to.
After watching the beautiful show, we took a 20-minute stroll to find a trip advisor cafe to eat at, Spidori di Parma. When we arrived we found out it was no longer in business. We walked the side streets and found a cute little Italian place, Gusto Italia, and it did not disappoint. We had the Ravioli (Ricotta, spinach, prosciutto, mixed cheeses sauce) and Chipolina Pizza (Tomatoes, mozzarella, chorizo, salami, Italian cured meats). For dessert, we had the Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate Soufflé with ice cream. We have never had Italian food like we had that night.
***The girls are on a cooking mission to learn how to recreate the Ravioli and even 24 hours later, nobody can stop talking about or salivating over that meal.
After catching the Metro and RER back to our place, it was 11:30pm, extremely late, and we are exhausted. Au Revoir.
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