My Own Amazing Race - 1st Pitstop - Paris

My trip to France in September 2010 was absolutely amazing - there were a few hiccups along the way - but in the end it was perfect. I loved everything!

I landed in Paris on a beautiful sunny Friday morning and spent the day walking up and down the Seine River Walk and visiting St. Chapelle since I missed this beautiful church on my first trip to Paris.

On Saturday I took an amazing walking tour of Paris that included an abundance of chocolate and pastry tastings.   My favorite chocolates were at Michel Cluizel near the Tuilieries.  One of my favorite things to do in Paris is sit and relax in either the  Tuilieries Garden or the Luxembourg Gardens.  I really loved the Luxembourg Gardens in June 2009 but after this trip I think I may be more partial to the Tuilieries - probably because if you sit closer to Place de la Concorde you can catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower!   I also took a nice stroll up the cobbles on the Champs Elysees where the Tour de France finished a mere six weeks ago.  Saturday night I tried to make reservations to eat at the new Polo Ralph Lauren Restaurant in the St. Germain area that was advertised in the New York Times but they were booked solid for 10 days so I made a reservation for Thursday the 16th when I'd be back in Paris.  So instead after mass at Notre Dame I ate dinner at my favorite cafe in the Latin Quarter - Cafe de Paris - followed by dessert on Ile St. Louis - obviously deux boules de framboise!

Since Sunday was the first Sunday of the month it was free museum day in Paris.  Last year I only got to walk by the modern art museum - Centre George Pompidou - so I decided to go in for free since modern art isn't really my thing.  I'm glad I went for free because as I thought it definitely wasn't my style.  To this day I still prefer the impressionists at Musee d'Orsay.   So I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing mostly in the Tuilieres but a little bit in Luxembourg because I was on the search for the Brownies and Bagel store but couldn't find it.  It was an early night to bed at Residence Les Gobelins in the 13th arrondisement this night because on Monday morning I was getting picked up at 6am sharp for a flight to Nice - the capital of the French Riviera.