Frenchie

This morning was a glorious.  The sky was absolutely clear so it was the brightest and sunniest since Diane and I arrived here.

The gang of six met at 10:30 outside Diane & my Metro stop to find a boulangerie for breakfast.  We settled on a nearby café called “Miss Manon” where I plotted to lull as much of the gang as possible over to the Dark Side where we have chocolate for breakfast.  I made converts.

After breakfast, we gave a quick tour of our apartment then jumped back onto the Metro.

We got off on the Champs-Elysées at Clemenceau.  Our destination was Hotel des Invalides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invalides) which is now a Military History museum.  It took a fair while to get there, not because of distance, but because the weather was so perfect and there was always yet another monument sparkling in the sun that required a billion photographs (I got carried away and shot a total of 350 images through the day).  The Alexander III bridge – a beautiful bridge – was at its best.

We decided to split up at Invalides so that we could view the museums at our own pace.  Short version: lots of suits of armor.  I spent a lot of time in the Charles de Gaulle museum to learn about that era of French history.  Fascinating.

We reconvened, were in urgent need to beverages, so found a brasserie near rue Cler to rebalance our electrolytes with wine and cheese.  After some time, we walked rue Cler and split to get ready for The Big Event in the evening.

We reconvened at Greg and Laurie’s hotel at 6:30 PM and jumped on the Metro to Les Halles area. Our destination was Frenchie.  We had a reservation for 8:30.

What can be said?  Frenchie reservations are impossible to get.  We scored ours in early September sort of by fluke (I walked down there mid-day in early September and the waiter/owner happened to unlock the door for me).  All reservations are for 8:30 PM and there is only one seating. The restaurant seats about 25 people.  If you don't call to book the reservation between 8:30 and about 11:00 PM, well, you can’t get one and, during that time, they may not answer the phone anyway.  Oh yeah, … the food was sublime.

Another great day.  We parted company at the Metro station near Frenchie .