Paris, Abbreviated. Walking Around Paris, Angelina And The Pont Des Arts Bridge

Previous and future posts in this trip report:

1. Lufthansa Business Class To Paris Via Frankfurt

2. Park Hyatt Place Vendome

3. Walking Around Paris, Angelina And The Pont Des Arts Bridge

4. Eiffel Tower

5. Laduree

6. Café Kleber Trocadero and The Eiffel Tower At Night

7. Lufthansa New Business Class, Upstairs On The 747-8i

We were refreshed after a quick shower upon check-in at the Park Hyatt.  It was late afternoon but still plenty of time to explore a bit.  The Park Hyatt is well located, though not “right in the thick of things”.  Place Vendome is literally a block away and we set off in that direction.

It was a short walk to Angelina, a restaurant/tea room that has a good reputation in Paris.  It had been recommended and reviewed by my friend Gary, and a quick stop for take-out macaroons seemed to be a good idea.  The reputation of the hot chocolate was a draw as well. We had the ill-conceived notion that we might wait in line a bit since we missed our reservation due to the flight delay.  I asked someone standing in the front of the line outside the building how long they had waited.

They replied they had been in line about 45 minutes.  There was easily another 15 minute wait inside for a table.  Maybe it’s just me, but there aren’t too many restaurants I would wait an hour for a table at, and I’m pretty sure my jet-lagged 7-year old wasn’t going to last that long either. Thankfully, the take-out line was short.  In a matter of 10 minutes, we escaped with a box of macaroons and our first $9 cup of hot chocolate.

Take note, Paris is a very expensive city.  In certain cases, though, the price is worth it.  Hands down, but Michelle and Catherine said it was the best cup of hot chocolate they’d ever had.  The macaroons were excellent as well, though we didn’t have much to compare them to.  Macaroons found in the US just don’t compare with what we found in Paris (more on that in a future post).

We enjoyed the basics, vanilla and chocolate.  Added to that were pistachio, raspberry, salted caramel and lemon.  We each had a bite and voted on our favorites.  Pistachio was the resounding winner. It was a chilly day and the hot chocolate hadn’t quite been enough to break our daughter out of her funk for what might have been a happier picture.

But, all of a sudden she snapped out of it and was happy girl near the Louvre and on the way to the Pont des Arts bridge.

Everyone has special things they want to accomplish on vacation.  The Pont des Arts was high on Catherine’s list.  It wasn’t Eiffel Tower high, but it ranked a close second for our daughter.  For those not familiar, the bridge is one of a handful in Paris where folks in love bring a lock to the bridge, lock it on the fence and throw the keys in the water to symbolize their never-ending love.

Catherine was 100% committed to a lock with all 3 of our names on it.  How could a father and mother resist a wish like that?  Who says parenting is all upset stomachs and runny noses? I was shocked that we were able to buy a lock for only 3 Euro from a street vendor near the bridge.  He even gave us a marker to write our names and the date on it.  By far the cheapest thing we bought in Paris.  Catherine was ecstatic.  A quick walk to the bridge and she found the perfect place to place her lock.

 

When we told her to throw the keys into the water, she quickly stopped and said that each of us needed to throw a key, just to make sure it was a true joint effort.

Shortly thereafter, mission accomplished, we set off to get warm again.  It certainly wasn’t very warm.  We ended up back near Place Vendome with a plan for dinner and ducked into the Westin real quick so Catherine could use a restroom.  Starwood Platinum status comes with free bathroom breaks even when you’re not staying at the hotel, right? Catherine was quietly complaining that she was a bit tired and wanted to go back to the hotel for dinner.  But, we pretty much had her convinced that we were going to a cool place for dinner, a recommendation of my friend Michael.  We walked outside to do a bit more exploring and walked right into….a hail storm. Can’t make this stuff up.

That pretty much killed her mood to head out and with it any resistance Michelle and I had to force the issue.  A short walk back to the hotel and we enjoyed a very expensive dinner in the lobby.  After dinner our daughter still ended up with the munchies.  She wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted, so the concierge was nice enough to direct us to a local grocery store to pick up a few snack items.  Tops on my daughter’s list?  Some of the reddest and juiciest strawberries I’ve ever seen in February and water with one of her favorite characters (Little Miss Princess for those not familiar with the Mr. Men books).

We tucked ourselves into bed knowing the Eiffel Tower was next up in the morning.