Shopping Day

Since we have seen pretty much all we wanted to see, we three ladies decided to do some shopping.. But first, remember when you were young and were traveling, you would use buses and subways or walk to save money? We have all decided it’s so much easier to just get a cab where we want to go. No muss, no fuss. Especially when it’s 30 degrees outside.

So, we got a cab to Galleries Lafayette, the biggest and nicest department store in Paris. We walked in with all the other shoppers. The signs were all advertising Black Friday sales, so the place was mobbed. We got there around noon and it kept getting busier as the day went on. We had a soda or coffee in the cafe. We all just window shopped for an hour or so. Then we looked at the windows all decorated for the holidays. Next we walked to Printemps department store. Again just window shopping. We went to a small cafe there after being shopped out. Rudy had left the hotel and walked the 2 kilometers to meet us. After he had his coffee, we walked to find a Tootbus stop. We walked past the Paris Opera House, the old one where the Phantom lived. We took the bus to the Louvre stop, which isn’t very near the Louvre. We walked several blocks to the Carousel Cafe to have an early dinner. I had been there before. It was mobbed. Luckily we got a table inside. We were near the door so it was pretty cool. I had a croque monsieur and it was yummy. Tomorrow I will have to have quiche.
Then we had to walk to the other side of the Louvre to catch our City lights Tootbus tour. The wind was howling and my thin California blood was COLD! We weren’t sure exactly where the bus was going to be til we saw a crowd of people waiting. The French are pretty pushy in those situations so it took awhile to load. Many people went up top. The bus was covered but there was open air behind the cover. We sat down below but weren’t any warmer. There is no heat and the cold air from the top deck sinks to the lower level. It was a two hour ride but after the first hour the topsiders started getting off. Because it was Black Friday weekend the traffic was terrible so it took awhile long time to get around. We finally bailed out and got an Uber back to the hotel. I couldn’t stop shivering. We went to Rudy and Betty’s room for a visit and I was still shivering. So I’m going to get into my Jammie’s and into my nice, warm bed. Tomorrow we have a 3 hour city tour with the cruise line. It will be nice to be on a warm bus and watch the world go by.
‘Photos: exterior and interior of Galleries Lafayette, the glass dome inside the store with Christmas decoration. The top picture is Notre Dame lit up at night. There a crowd photo on the side walk. Also a photo of the Opera.
Bonne unit.