The last morning of Paris approached us quickly as we awoke once again to pack up our suitcases and head down for our breakfast buffet. We grabbed our plates and by this time we knew what we had desired to be on them. The hard boiled egg was on each of ours and that’s when we decided that there was going to be an egg peeling show down. (This was to prove that I wasn’t as slow as I had been the first day of egg eating.) So, we cracked the time and it began… and guess who ended up trumping the other? Me. I won! But, if it means anything… I’d rather Luey peel my eggs for me any day! So, we ate our meal and went back to room 32 to bring down our suitcases in preparation for checking out before noon. Yet, just because our room was no longer available to us, that didn’t mean that the rest of Paris wasn’t… That’s when we called a taxi and had it take us to one of the largest shopping galleries in all of Paris; The Lafayette. This shopping complex was a four 5 leveled arena that was located in an older built building. One probably couldn’t have told the difference between that old landmark compared with others, except that this one held many, many, many high fashion designer products and other goodies. Walking into this place it didn’t take long for me to be drawn into something, yet this time it was apart of the structure itself rather than clothing or of that sort. In this 5 story building, there was a enormous dome-shaped stained glass overlaying all of the levels. If standing on the first floor, you would see all the other levels built around the center in a circle like fashion. This was not your average Dillard’s.
We were on a mission for today: to find the perfect shoes. These shoes were going to be a pair unlike any other I owned. There were a few stipulations, 1. They were heels, 2. They were almost pieces of art that you could put onto your shelf, and 3. They were timeless. I know… I raised the bar pretty high for these little puppies. I also wanted to know instantly that they were ‘the ones,’ you know that feeling when you just know you have to have it? So, we wandering aimlessly around the racks and up and down different levels. We pretty much saw it all, the beauty products, the high end fashion lines from well known designers, the accessories unit, and eventually we ran into a little vending machine that sold non-other than coffee. Um, why doesn’t America have this? So, we took a little espresso break and then continued on our way. Being too afraid to buy anything in the price range that they had marked on their clothes, we headed on down to the lowest of the lowest levels; the shoes.
While weaving ourselves through the thousands of shoes that were down there, I was sure we were going to be find it. Even Luey was in on it. He was pointing out multiple pairs that may have been what I had wanted… and my eyes kept scanning all around to see if they were to become glued on anything special. But, there wasn’t much of anything that grabbed my attention as strong as I had desired. These shoes were going to (maaaaybe) be my wedding shoes! Yet, this time in Paris… there was no such luck for the perfect fit or style. Au revoir shoes!
Walking ourselves silly through the elaborate shopping facility, we worked up an appetite. This time we ventured outside until we smelt something and saw with our eyes the place we wanted to eat. This time it was a true hearted brasserie. They had all sorts of French food, and what better way to say good-bye to France than to eat multiple foods that reminisce France. Luey ordered mozerella & tomatoes, a ham crepe, and French fries, and my order was a tuna salad with all sorts of vegetable goodies sprinkled on top. Yes, please. It was so, so good! To top it off, there was a crème brulee served in front of me to truly seal the goodbye!
Leaving the little bistro, we then whipped in and out of selected stores that lined the streets we were walking at and ended up finding the perfect (winter) knitted sweater and also finding a Gap (!!!) in Paris. Beautiful thing shopping is. Some how we landed ourselves on the street that truly was made only for BMWs and/or any other high priced car, because this street held own little boutiques with the designers name dawned on it. There was Dior, Chanel, Valentino, Miu Miu, Versace, and any other name you’d expect to see on a runway. Of course we only dared to walk into a handful of them, and by the 2nd or 3rd one we almost felt silly and out of place. That is when we decided to call it a day on the shopping boulevard, and got a taxi back to our safe spot, Mr. Eiffel.
When we arrived we said our sweet (& maybe tearful) goodbyes to our new friend, and we walked down the souvenir filled streets to grab a couple of last things. J’Adore Paris shirt was bought, miniature Eiffel towers, and of course magnets and then off we went to our hotel to make it in time for our airport cab. Except for the fact that as soon as we stepped outside, there began a rain pour. This started as a meaningless drizzle yet only about 10 steps into the walk back, it began to pour kittens and puppies. Worst timing ever. We were holding our bags full of recently purchased remembrances and trying not to let our more valuable things get water damage. Practically running in straight ran, we some how made it back to the hotel in time to change out of our sopping wet clothes into luckily some of our newly purchased items since our other belongings were already packed away.
Once dry and ready to head to the airport, the cab came along to take us to the place where I had to kiss the glorious Paris au revoir. It was sad. We had a good run. The food, the streets, the history… I soaked it all in. We eventually figured out the weird security and bag checking system that the French had an after waiting awhile to check our bags we finally made it to our plane gate. We sat and read and checked the screen to make sure everything was running smoothly, and after checking it once again we noticed that our flight was delayed… for a mere 2 hours… I wish that it could’ve been a joke, but it wasn’t and that meant that we had another 2 hours to wait before our plane was to even take off. That also meant more people watching time, and that the AirFrance was to compensate us for a meal and it did just that. We anxiously awaited the plane and when it was time to board, we were ready.
It didn’t take long until we were back in Portugal and when we landed we were thankful to see a familiar face waiting for us after the long day of dealing with airport nonsense. Portugal, your land feels good beneath my feet…
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