France -- Paris day 3 (final day)

Because of the ongoing rail strike, we aborted our plans of taking the train to Chartres and decided to wander around the Champs Elysées. We had croissants and café crèmesat the same café where we had breakfast yesterday. We hopped on the metro and rode it to the Arc de Triomphe.

Starting at the Arc de Triomphe, we walked down the avenue, peeping into fancy stores along the way. We stopped in Ladurée and bought some macarons: vanilla, pistachio (2), caramel, lemon, green apple, licorice, and rose.

We continued our meanderings down the street and stopped at a café for iced vanilla lattes and water (it was really hot and sunny today). We kept walking until we reached Place de la Concorde. We admired the obelisk and fountains for a bit before setting off for Rue de Rivoli.

We stopped in shops here and there (I found a yellow Tour de France t-shirt for dad) until we arrived at the Palais.Musée du Louvre metro station. We rode the metro to La Cité and had a relaxing lunch at a café overlooking Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais de Justice. I had a delicious club sandwich (egg, tomato, lettuce, chicken, mayo) and cider to drink.

Next, we strolled past Notre Dame and, because of the heat, stopped at yet another café for a drink. Our café was right next to the Seine and we had a beautiful view of Notre Dame while we relaxed in the shade (I drank a kir, mom had pastis, and Judy had a campari and soda). After relaxing, we walked back to the hotel to re-organize and pack for our early departure tomorrow.

And so the trip ends – it was great fun with great travel buddies! I will have one last post soon about all the souvenirs I found along with some final thoughts about the trip~