Early! very early...

My flight is scheduled for 7:50 so I was supposed to be here three hours (!) early, and the taxi company apparently thought it would be rush hour and picked me up at 4:00. I had my boarding pass by 4:30; it will be a very long day!

But yesterday, our final day in Paris, was lovely! Does an exclamation mark express it well enough? Perfect weather, great company, and--Paris!

I had been feeling old because my feet hurt, and my legs were tired of stairs, but--hooray! I was not the only one, so we cabbed it to the Place de Le Bastille--yes, that Bastille--'It was the best of times, etc..' Though of course the Bastiłle is gone and only the Place remains.

 Now there is a splendid opera house and an outdoor market; here is the market--

the district is the Marais, and Hideko, Jamie, and I enjoyed following a written tour in their Rick Steves book. Here's what it looks like there:

Hideko and Jamie in the courtyard of a once proud home; it is still proud, just no longer a private home. Urban renewal razed houses of poorer people to widen streets and build grander houses--sound familiar?

This is one side of .four with a courtyard within and walls of dwellings around. Victor Hugo lived in this development, Mr. Les Miz himself!

Not far away is the Jewish quarter. This area grew as pre-WWII persecutions spread throughout Europe, and eventually, 75 percent of those living here were sent to concentration camps. It's a distressing tale too often told, and that sort of thing also continues today.

But, on a happier note, we had a lovely lunch there including the best frites we'd had!

Besides great food, we got to sit a spell!

A few doors down was this bakery--

No, we didn't go in!

Now to the Louvre one more time. 

Hideko wanted to check in with Mona Lisa one more time, and I wanted to see Michelangelo's slave sculptures. 

Mona is not a large painting, and the crowd,as usual, was large--

The slaves were magnificent!

So was Mercury--

Isn't it fun?!

Plus many beautiful and poignant madonnas:

And this old man with a young boy--such a tender expression.

A little fun with the inverted pyramid downstairs 

Then some shopping--I do enjoy spoiling my beautiful grand-daughters! Besides-- to you scoffers out there--Hideko wanted to take presents for her co- workers!

Our final dinner in Paris was a treat! We ate at Les Deux Magots. I know what you're honking, and it's 'mah-go,' so named after two figures from a play or something--we saw them too. Plus it was a hangout for Simone de Beavoir and John-Paul Sartre, as well as Hemingway. 

We started with Foie Gras:

Marvelous!

Main courses: Hideko had carpaccio and salad, Jamie tuna, and I had hangar steak. Dessert followed (Are you surprised?) Creme brûlée for Jamie and me (sigh), and this macaron/raspberry delicacy for Hideko:

A final neighborhood walk:

Followed by packing and a little sleep, and now I'm here. It is 7:40 now; in an hour I should be on board to begin my journey home.

What a time it has been!!!

Only one more a demain to tell you I made it home.