Notes and images from the last day

We finally saw the sun on our last day, and it was quite mild, too. Other than organizing our stuff and packing up, we had two fun events planned for the day. The first was lunch with new friends, JoAnn & Llyod, whom I know through an email group. In the olden days, I guess one would say pen pals! Anyway, we had a lovely lunch with lively conversation at the Bistrot La Bruyère in our 'hood (thanks M and Mme Laidback, if you're reading this.) We started with duck carpaccio and smoked salmon, and moved on to beef confit and daurade, the latter two pictured below. While the beef was supposed to be cooked through (confit) it was a little dried out. Other than that, everything else was very good. And at 2 courses for 19 Euros, it was a good deal. We would absolutely return.

Here's the somewhat blurry selfie we took in front of the restaurant before we went our separate ways.

After lunch, we had no plans until 5:30, so we wandered around our old stomping grounds on Rue Lepic, stopping into Chez Julien for a glass of wine. Eventually, we found ourselves at the "I love you wall" again. This selfie came out better.

We booked the Grands Crus wine tasting at O Chateau at 5:30, where we met up with Tim and Teresa. This was a lot of fun! It's not cheap, but we tasted some wonderful, higher-end wines, had some tasty nibbles including foie gras, and had the pleasure of a knowledgeable AND entertaining sommelier. There were only 11 of us, so plenty of "hands on" including Q&A throughout. A very enjoyable evening. Here's me with Teresa and Tim, clearly captivated by our sommelier.

It was still early so we went over to the Experimental Cocktail Club, which was on all of our lists (or at least it was at the top of Teresa's and mine!). Neat place. It was pretty crowded, considering it was early, so we made it a pretty quick stop. Delicious cocktails. We'd go back on a week night, or earlier, for sure. Next we wandered over to Rue Montorgeuil, which was also decorated for the holidays. We ended the night at a place we chose only for its terrasse called Cafe du Centre. The food was fine, but nothing you'd run back for - and it was all about being outside on a nice evening with wonderful company. Actually, it was so hot on the terrace, we had to ask the waiter to turn off one of the heaters! It was a great way to end our stay in Paris.

 

Always a lot of laughs when we go out with Teresa and Tim.

 

 

It was really an amazing trip - hope you enjoyed coming along! A la prochaine ('til next time.).