Warning: goofy, sappy story **

Yes, Tom and I succumbed to the goofy, romantic "love locks." We purchased a small lock at a little hardware store, some hot pink nail polish from the Monoprix, attached our lock to the Pont de Solferino, held the key, and on the count of trois, dumped it into the Seine. Will it be there next time we're there? We'll see. The Parisian government was recently suspected of removing a bunch of locks from the nearby Pont des Arts. You can see the locks, including ours, in the foreground of the first picture.



On our last night, we did a little cafe hopping. For the first time, we went to the Cafe des Deux Moulins (it was only a block away from the apartment!), made famous by the Amelie movie. It was, as expected, loud, crowded, and full of tourists, but less expensive than I thought it would be given its fame.

Next we went to the Cafe Carolus on the Boulevard de Clichy, which was the only cafe open last Sunday morning. We liked it on a Friday night - lively, lots of locals and sports fans.

We ended the evening at Chez Julien.


It was a hoot on a Friday night - so packed, we had to take a table (as opposed to our usual bar spots). Here we are, after many glasses of wine.


We told the owner it was our last night in Paris, but that we would definitely be back.He was such a nice guy - always ready with a big smile and a "Ca va?"

Check out time at the apartment was 10:00AM. We talked about taking our bags to the Gare du Nord for storage, but it was our crappiest weather day yet, so we decided to plop ourselves down at a cafe for several hours before finding a cab to the airport.

While it was raining and chilly, the terraces have heaters, so we sat outside. For those who don't know, it is incredibly more expensive to sit outside, so we usually limit the number of times we do that. But it was our last morning...

Here's the terrace (most other customers were sitting next to us or behind us) with the large heaters.

My cafe creme with tartine (baguette with butter - simple, but good):

It's a tradition for us to get a pack of Gauloises and smoke some at a cafe, which you can still do outside in certain sections. You don't need to understand French to get the warning on the package, right?

Au revoir, Au Petit Poucet, and thanks for being a perch for watching Paris go by for the last couple hours.

The taxi stand was right across the street. This was the cheapest airport ride I ever had (about 35 Euros) - probably the Saturday factor. The cab driver was a little scary. He kept talking to himself and wiping his brow. I think he was a nervous driver. Great! But we made it.

Unfortunately, the way the timing worked out, lunch was at the airport. A couple pieces of quiche, some red wine, and a water set us back 27.6 Euros, about $38!! Ouch. Airports.

The flight was uneventful and on time, and we rolled in around 9:30 last night.

This last shot was taken the other day, in our 'hood. Thanks to everyone for coming along on our wonderful (albeit quick) trip to Paris.

** Edited to add that we don't condone the love locks! When we did it, it was not the massive problem it is today, and we certainly would not have done it had we foreseen the consequences. It is a big problem and has already damaged some Paris treasures. Here is a fairly recent article on it.