Our Very Last Day

Today started out with my last run of the trip. My dad and I went to the Jardins de Luxembourg, which were huge! Trees lined the paths around the garden, letting us escape from the day’s oppressive heat since we didn’t run early. Durning the run we passed what is now used as the senate building a few times, which was apparently once the king’s mom’s palace. After our pretty run through the gardens we returned to our apartment and getting ready for the day. Hannah and my mom were out getting us some falafel and hummus for lunch. After we ate none of us felt all that motivated to go outside into the heat, so we relaxed for a while. I caught up on some blogging and packed up most of my clothes for the flight home tomorrow. It feels like it has been ages since we were home and I think Millie is feeling totally abandoned. Once the blogging was done we all went out for some crêpes. We were going to go to the restaurant where Hannah and my dad went the night we arrived, but changed our minds and ended up with the best crêpes of the trip.

After crêpes we went back to our apartment, where I napped, before meeting up with our neighbor from home and her family, all of whom are in Paris. We took the subway to meet them at a restaurant called Noglu, pronounced No Glu since its a gluten free restaurant. It wasn’t all that clear to some of us how to pronounce it, not connecting the dots of glu and gluten, which made for some good laughs. Our dinner was delicious and getting to see even more friends from home around the world was really special.

After we all parted ways and said our good byes my family began its last hurrah in France. We started the night out by admiring the dusky sky, which was pretty enough for me to stop in the middle of the street to take a picture. We continued by first walking to the Louvre to see its glass pyramid entrance lit up. After the inevitable picture stop we continued by walking to the old lock bridge again. From here we got to see the 11 pm Eiffel Tower sparkle while its spotlight turned in endless circles. we located some of the few locks still attached to the bridge and, of course, took pictures. Our Paris by night walk continued by walking along the Seine River towards Notre Dame. The river was lined with people sitting on the edge enjoying their Friday night with friends and lots of beer. When we got to Notre Dame I decided the lights make the already erie gargoyles a few levels creepier. Though haunting, Notre Dame was still beautiful. We let it behind on a mission for our last crêpes in France on this trip. My dad led us to a hopping street full of night clubs, gyros, and crêpes. We walked until we eventually picked out the yummiest looking crêpe stand. My mom and Hannah both ordered fruit and Honey crêpes and I got a honey and almond one, just to see what it was. Turns out the almonds were almost like almond flour so I had a slightly weird taste and texture, but not necessarily bad. When I ordered I did it with the French I still remember from middle school, but the crêpe maker just pointed to the English menu and said to use it. I tried again in French, but then gave up and used English. It is certain that I am much better in Spanish now than French.

Our adventure continued as we took the subway to a stop just a bit away from the Eiffel Tower to get a good view of its lights. By then it was about midnight, but I was too focused on enjoying our last night in Paris to be tired. The Eiffel Tower is really beautiful at night, swapping is steady steel for a rotating spotlight and yellow lights. Next, we walked to the Arc de Triumphe, which we drive by last night, but didn’t really get to enjoy. At the arc I stopped in the middle of the road for the 2nd time in a few hours to get another picture.

Finally, we decided it was time to call it a night so we could get back to our apartment before the subways closed at 1:30 am. After wandering a bit to find the entrance we hopped on. There was only one transfer, so we thought we would be able to make it to our stop before closing time. When we did arrive at our stop it was 1:28 am, two minutes to spare. Though it was a late night, it was a perfect night, making our goodbyes to Europe a bit more bittersweet.