Paris-9/24/2015 - 10-5/2
Day 1-Lunch, Hotel de Ville, cheese & wine
It is lunch time and Thuan took us to the Cafe du Marche des Blancs Manteaux in th Marais.
This picture was taken once we were done with lunch and our way out.
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The Bar right inside |
Hoa ordered the Beef Carpaccio, it came with a salad on the side and French Fries. The French fries were so delicious.
Cang and Kristie ordered the Couscous royal with chicken, lamb, and nice vegetable stew.
A copious portion of Quiche Lorraine
Kevin ordered a duck confit with fried potatoes. The Duck confit was very good, the meat melt in your mouth with a nice and crispy skin. The potatoes were so good.
I ordered the fish of the day with ratatouille, mash potatoes and I Thuan also gave me a portion of the quiche on the side.
Hoa, Cang, Thuan, Kevin, Kristie and I enjoying our lunch.
Hotel de Ville
Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) is the building housing the city's local administration. Located on the place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville in the 4th arrondissement, it has been the location of the municipality of Paris since 1357.
Since the French Revolution, the building has been the scene of a number of historical events, notably the proclamation of the French Third Republic in 1870 and the famous speech by Charles de Gaulle on 25 August 1944 during the Liberation of Paris when he greeted the crowd from a front window
This is huge billboard showing Hôtel de Ville back in 1900. It is pretty interesting to have a glimpse back in time.
Police headquarter in the left (Prefecture de Police) and in the middle is Notre Dame de Paris. The area were filled with people even back then and so interesting to see so many carriages with horses.
We are now crossing a bridge connecting the right bank to the left bank.
The building you see is The Conciergerie, a former prison, located on the banks of the River Seine, the west of the Île de la Cité (literally "Island of the City"). La Conciergerie is the oldest remaining part of the Palais de la Cité, the first royal palace in the French capital that was used as a prison during the French Revolution. Hundreds of prisoners during the French Revolution were taken from the Conciergerie to be executed on the guillotine.
Around the corner from La Conciergery is Le Palais de Justice (Justice palace) from Rue de Harley
The entrance of the Palais de Justice from Rue Harley to "la Cour Assise".
Built in 140 and was reconstructed between 1857 and 1868 by architects Joseph-Louis Duc and Honoré Daumet.The exterior includes sculptural work by Jean-Marie Bonnassieux.
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At the "Love Locks" bridge.
The original site for the "Love Locks" was located on Pont de Arts bridge but the thousands of locks affixed to its grillwork was weighed down and a section for the fencing collapsed.
This is an alternate location which I do not know the name of the bridge.
This is a fairly new location and already hundred of locks are affixed.
Love locks have created spontaneous "lovescapes" in cities and towns around the world. The idea is that you and your love attach a lock, often with names or initials written on it, onto a bridge. You throw the keys into the river or canal as a sign that your love is eternal, never to be undone While couples may find it romantic to snap a selfie with their personal shrine, many cities aren't feeling the love.
We have been walking for a least 4-5 hours and we are really tired and we are just going back to the apartment to rest.. Kevin and Kristie went to the Musée D'orsay which is at walking distance from here.
On our way back to our apartment, we decided to get some cheese and wine for a quick snack. We picked a bottle of red wine.
Close by our apartment is a really nice cheese shop.
There are so many cheeses that I have never heard of before.
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We showed the owner our bottle of wine and he asked us a few questions before making his recommendations.
I personally like a creamy cheese, like brie, mildly flavored so he recommended the Saint Marcellin.
These are the 3 cheeses we bought:
Landres, Saint Marcellin, and Salers tradition.
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Opening our bottle of wine, a nice fresh loaf of baguette, and savoring the cheese we bought.
Next... Dinner at La Regalade