Day 3

Day 3 was full of unexpected highlights. It started out chilly and drizzly but we conquered our first morning market down the street and acquired a baguette and des fraises for petit dejeuner, and a can of paté canard fumé and a piece of fromage de brebis for lunch.

We rode our Velibs along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, stopping along the way to get museum passes at Musée D'Orsay. When we got to the E.T. (which is huge, and not as romantic as we remembered) we sat in the grass and ate our paté (in honor of Edward Crouse, our favorite gourmet in NYC) and wondered if it would rain.

Then, we walked across the river to the 16th arrondisement in search of designer consignment shops and vintage ties. We found some amazing things! Like 500 euro Chanel amazing, so... we didn't add to our wardrobes but it was a fun adventure.

After a big nap, we awoke to clear blue skies and sun at 6pm and headed off to the Musée D'Orsay, which is open late on Thursdays. We intended to go to the café there for dinner but got stuck in the Impressionists and admiring the view of Paris from the 5th floor terrace and decided to bike home and eat locally instead. The bike ride home was unexpectedly incredible. The sun was setting over the Seine and we detoured into the Louvre and found ourselves riding around the square and glass pyramid at dusk and then down the Seine to the Latin Quarter through Ile de la Cité and past Notre Dame.

AND. THEN. We had our first Julia Child moment!! This little restaurant called Rotisserie de Beaujolais around the corner served us the MOST delicious "megret de canard" and "demi-poule roti"; we felt like Julia and Paul arriving in France and eating sole meunier for the first time. They were served with a casserole dish of heavenly mashed potatoes and (lots of) beurre. And finished with a molten chocolate cake and pistachio ice cream (both of which sound better in French but we can't remember). Anyway, we'd go on and on, but just read My Life in France and what we experienced was just like that!! We just hear her voice, "Yum!".

Sarah's favorite part of the day was seing all the way to Montmarte from the top of Musée D'Orsay and then the duck at Rotisserie, and Drake's was wandering amongst the Monet, Cezanne, Degas, and Van Gogh. Wonderful day. Tomorrow, Versailles!