The Eiffel Tower at night...

...is far nicer than during the day. There are still the crowds and still the security but its just prettier at night.

Wednesday night we headed over to the Trocadero neighbourhood opposite the Tower to have dinner. It turned out to be one of the better meals we had in Paris. We had steak with pepper sauce, veggies and creme caramel...drool.

I got to wear one of my French scarves, too. All in all a great night.

These two shots are the Trocadero neighbourhood as the sun is setting (the Eiffel Tower is behind us and this neighbourhood is on our left as we crossed the bridge)

S and I took turns trying to get a decent shot of the Tower with the lights on

The upscale department of downtown Paris

In one of the three Paris guides I took with us, there was mention of a store called BHV.

Truly a fascinating place. They were like The Bay, Mark's & Spencer, Ikea and Lowe's all rolled into one big department store in downtown Paris. Go figure.

It was fascinating. If you ever get to Paris, a definate must see, just to see it. It was expensive but intriguing.

Life on the other side of the river

Tuesday night we took a walk after supper. I know like we needed to walk more. As it was when we got home Tuesday night, my husband headed off to find a groceria we found Monday night while I rinsed out some clothes.

I stayed behind to rinse out our clothes but it was also a chance to soak my very sore feet. Imagine squashing grapes in Italy, only was in a Paris hotel tub, using laundry soap and our clothes. The hot water soak did wonders for both my toes and our clothes!

We wandered past Notre Dame over to the Marais side. Its the Right Bank's version of the Latin Quarter but perhaps with a few less narrow street. Its more so the shopping district than the touristy district we stayed in.

There many shops and restaurants to choose from. We planned to head there during the day on Wednesday so this trip was more so a scouting mission.

Wednesday morning up we got up and headed to the newly discovered breakfast place of choice, le Boulangerie du Papa.

If you ever make it to Paris, I would highly suggest stopping in for a cafe creme and pain au chocolat. Its just one of those things you need to do.

After breakfast, off we went. I was really intrigued to visit Les Halles. It was once described as the Belly of Paris because of the multitude of food stalls and food sellers. The market has since been relocated and in its place an underground shopping centre has re-emerged.

One of the many entrances to Les Halles

We found Les Halles and checked out the shops. I was interested in finding a new top to wear to the Moulin Rouge show. I lost my husband for a few minutes in H&M but managed to get a dress, new top and a scarf.

After Les Halles, we headed of to see the list of things I had requested for visit for the day. My husband was tired and threatening to head back early.

We visited les Mariages Freres, known for their tea. We ended up not being able to make it to high tea but we did buy some to bring home.

We walked through the gardens of the Musee Carnavalet. We didn't feel that we wanted to tour the indoor collections but the garden was a welcome respite from the streets outside.

The entrance to the Musee Carnavalet

The garden outside the Musee

All I can say is can I hire these garderers to fix my garden? My boxwoods don't even look neat compared to these manicured lawns.

We checked out les Places des Vosges as well but our energy was startin to wane. We planned to check out the Eiffel Tower at night that day so my husband wanted to head back.

So we headed back but not before we had lunch and picked out a couple soccer jerseys for my husband and a Manchester United soccer ball for our daughter.