Last day in Paris… Today we started to wrap things up a bit. It’s always a little sad when these trips come to an end… Kind of like being woken up during a sweet dream! And, like all good things, this journey was winding down, starting with our tiny apartment. We left the keys on the table after the gang did a bang up job putting the place back to its rightful state, as it was upon our arrival. We treated it like it was our own! Great location, and we thought it an excellent introduction into weekly rentals. We’ll definitely do this again.
Having designs on getting the best of our last day in Paris, we were in need of a locker to store our bags. Thus, off to Gare du Nord (we knew we’d be back there to catch the RER B out to CDG later in the afternoon). It took two laps, but we eventually found the “Left Storage” and navigated the coin operated storage lockers… Good to go after that! We hauled out our metro tix and hopped on a line to Les Invalides.
First attraction stop of the day was Musée de l’Armée, the French War Museum in Paris. Janie and I visited this site in 2008, and really never got through the entire collection. So we returned, with our own little history buffs, and once again enjoyed this mammoth assortment of all things military and French. We began in the Ancient military displays, with all manner of sword, spear, armour and bow… Not to mention cannons in every corner. I’m not a big fan of that time period, but you can’t help but react to rooms of armour, gun and sword.
What this museum gets very right is its treatment of WWI & WWII. I appreciate getting that from the French perspective. When considered, the French had tremendous losses militarily in WWI, and tremendous losses politically in WWII. The inclusion of America in these exhibits was interesting… The US has played a pivotal role twice in making sure of French stability. Lots of great video, artefacts and most of it with English subtitles and script. Got to see a V1 Rocket too!
After those exhibits, we popped out to visit the wonderful golden dome that serves as a tomb for Napoleon. As our guide on our Sandeman’s tour mentioned, “Napoleon is still forcing people to bow down or look up to him”. I know one thing… It was cold in there. All that stone seemed to be holding a winter’s worth of below zero. The crypt is laid in a church like setting, with other side alters dedicated to famous French men, such as General Marshal Foch from WWI. I guess, as life would have it, it’s not every day that you get to see where Napoleon is buried!
The troops were cold and hungry as noon rolled in. We found comfort from both at a little street side Cafe, Le Comptoir du 7, where we ate our hearts out. The menu provided something authentic for the adults while catering to our teen aged eaters. I growled through a croque and French Onion soup, Janie had Quiche Lorraine, the kids were into pizza and burgers. Excellent service… Prompt and courteous waiter that Peter called the coolest guy he’d seen in Paris! We ate ’til we couldn’t… Then finished!
Post mug up, and the girls had some last minute “shopping” on the brain. We made our way to Montparnasse where we located the long lost mall that had slipped through our fingers earlier in the trip. Girls put on an hour or so run that netted several items with more reasonable pricing than we’d seen on our Thursday adventure. With that in hand, we kissed Paris goodbye making metro connections to Gare du Nord (for luggage pick up) and beyond, with the Express train to CDG even decked out with an accordion player!
We checked into the Hilton CDG, not knowing I’d booked a suite with more square footage than our house in Antigonish! All good though… While there we enjoyed bath robes, a great swim, getting the boarding passes printed, and, thanks to Janie, a glass of wine and some snacks. Got to bed fairly early knowing it was a 4:30 AM wake up to get our butts to the Brussels flight on time! Good night all!