We got priority passes to get through immigration and it took a while to get our bags. Went out and got a taxi to take us to Le Marais where our first boutique hotel is - Caron de Beaumarchais on Rue Vielle du Temple. It is so funny that this is where our hotel is as our friend Al Stewart lives on Rue Vielle du Temple just a block away. We are having drinks and dinner with him tomorrow night.
Our room wasn't ready so we dropped our bags off and took off for a brisk walk. The front desk man warned us to talk "before the rains come". And they did!
We walked down Rue Saint-Antoine and took a route similar to what Emilie had suggested. We ended up over by the Seine and followed it for a while. We headed back to Le Bastille and there was a huge fair of some sort going on - most likely for May Day - which is the French Labor Day and a holiday for many. Many stores are closed.
We had our umbrella and dodged a lot of the rain by walking under trees and canopies. We detoured and went by Bofinger - one of our favorite Paris restaurants. I made reservations for us for tonight so that will be fun.
It then started to POUR so we headed to the Place des Vosges and took shelter under the arched canopies that surround the Place. We stopped at a sidewalk restaurant - Ma Bourgogne - and got to eat outside and people watch while it rained. Great bottle of wine and a good (although expensive) lunch. I had a great salad with lobster, smoked salmon, and foie gras (Tim was shocked that I ate it). He had a salade nicoise - good.
The rain slowed down and we headed back to the hotel - room ready - and I was ready to get off of my feet and nap to try to recover from the jet lag. A great shower and change of clothes and then we were ready to go again. Sun is partly out so hopefully we can walk around without getting wet. Tomorrow's forecast shows 50% chance of rain - so we'll be armed with our umbrellas.
Headed to Bofinger for our 20:00 reservations. Beautiful room and huge crowd. Tables are typically French and VERY close to each other. We were glad that we had reservations as they were turning people away. We were seated upstairs in a smaller room and had good service. They serve "Alsatian" style food so Tim had the chacroutte (sourcroutte with sausages). A huge plate. Nice wine, relaxing dinner, great ambiance. Bofinger has been serving great food for over 150 years!
We headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed - about 10:30. A fun and busy first day of our adventure. Hopefully we'll get plenty of sleep and get over our jet lag tonight.
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