Friday, Excursion Day - Chartres or Dink Day

The was our last day. Sharon and Jennifer felt that they had not had a chance to shop and there were so many places we had been to that they wanted to go back to so we split up.

Sharon and Jennifer stayed in Paris and dinked - they poked around, looked in galleries, found some cool shops, had breakfast, lunch and a cafe break. They had a perfect day and felt that they got to do enough of what they missed before. They wandered all around the Place des Vosges, the Saint Germaine area and the Ile de la Cite.

They had their afternoon break at le Flore en L'Ile for beer.

Kris and I headed out to Chartres. It is about a 1 hour relaxing train ride from Paris.

Once in Chartres we wandered up to the Chartres Cathedral. The main goal here was to walk the labyrinth. Which we did - or tried to do. I was right in the middle of walking it when an obnoxious tour group came through and stood right on the labyrinth while people were trying to walk it. I could not believe that a tour guide would not realize what he was doing. There was plenty of room on the side for them to stand. Other than that it was a great experience.

Our lunch break was Le Serpente . I had the Croquet Monsieur and Kris had the Croquet Madame.

We wandered around the cathedral and the shops close by until the time of our tour of Old Town. Olivia joined us here.

We took a little "train" ride around old town. That was fun. Though it did make it more challenging to take pictures. Luckily we were not going very fast.

Chartres is a very picturesque little town with very narrow streets. They are in the process of renovating it.

Kris and I had our afternoon cafe break at the Chocolaterie. It was finally not too hot for hot chocolate. We split a praline macaron. This was in a cute little open mall. It was fairly close to the train station. We caught the 4pm train and got home about 1/2 hour before Jennifer and Sharon got home.

I think each group was glad of the choice they made. I had missed Chartres the last time I was in Paris and was very glad to do that. I think Kris had a good time as well. Sharon and Jennifer had a chance to poke around which they had missed earlier. Sharon said "a note to self - when planning a vacation - have a free day"

Once both groups got home and had a chance to relax a bit, we went out for our final evening event. We went to another of Hemmingway's favorite haunts, Harry's New York Bar, for drinks. I had the Side Car and the others had the White Lady. They were very good.

We ended the day at Au Pied du Cochon and no we did not have pig's feet as the name would imply. They are also famous for their French Onion Soup, which we did have. Some of us had the Oscar salad as well. Both of which were very good. Our last meal. But all of us are ready to get back to a little more simple fare.

I think all in all we had a fabulous 10 days. We saw a lot of art, ate and drank a lot, and walked a lot. We each have different favorites. The weather cooperated. No rain. And now it is time to head on home. We have to pack and be out of the apartment by 10am. Then we fly home via New York. I hope you all have enjoyed the taste of Paris with the Art-Walk-Eat Travelers.