Last Day in Paris and Dinner with Jean Pierre and Katy Saulnier

Chocolat Chaud (Hot chocolate) is served as powdered chocolat and a pot of warm milk...yum

Waiting for the Metro

Sacre Couer in Montmartre sits at the highest point in the city

Artists around the square in Montmartre

Anna and her artist

Chez Eugene for lunch

The menu at Chez Eugene looks like a piece of art

onion soup for me

Galleries Lafayette, a department store, for shopping

The beautiful dome inside of Galleries Lafayette

Anna and Renee enjoying the view on top of Galleries Lafayette

A little windy for the top of a building

These little round metro pod chairs make me smile

The metro stop outside of our hotel...Rue de Bac

I am a very literal person and when I see a sign with an arrow that points down, it means that the direction to go is down. Well, in France, this means to go forward...my family laughs a lot at my literal interpretations

Tom very carefully carries the orchid on the metro that we bought to bring to the Saulniers for a thank you and for a Happy Birthday present

Jean Pierre and Katy's home. Jean Pierre is on the balcony

Jean Pierre pours champagne as we celebrate his birthday

The Girolle "Cheese Wheel" and (Tete de Moine) "Monk's Head cheese"....notice the little flower of cheese that the cheese wheel makes

Spinach Salad with tomatoes

Osso Bucco

Happy Birthday Jean Pierre!!!

The beautiful birthday cake

I am not a big fan of mixing fruit with chocolate (unless it's strawberries), but this Passion Fruit Chocolate Cake was absolutely wonderful!!!

(L to R) Jean Pierre, his wife Katy, Renee, Travis, Anna, Danny, Amy, Edna, and Tom

Jean Pierre Saulnier with the cousins

Today is our last day in Paris. Tom and Edna left early in the morning to meet one of Tom's friends for breakfast. They walked around Ile St. Louis and had lunch on the island. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the streets of the Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain. Renee, Anna, Travis, Danny and I took the metro to Montmartre this morning for a quick trip through Sacre Coeur and shopping among the artists of Montmartre. Anna and I both found a piece of art and we had lunch at Chez Eugene on the square. It is a very touristy area and we know it caters to tourists but we were hungry and they had everything we were looking for....onion soup, crepes, salad, and an omelette. We left Montmartre and took the metro to Galleries Lafayette. Danny went back to the hotel to rest because he wasn't feeling well. There is a lot of cigarette smoking in Paris and for those that are sensitive to the smoke, it can make you feel pretty rough. Renee, Anna, and I separated from Travis after arriving at Galleries Lafayette as we were looking for different things. I took Renee and Anna up on the roof of the building to see the Paris rooftops. It is a little treasure that my sister in law, Christy, found on a past trip and that I was able to find in April. Renee, Anna, and I shopped for perfume, shoes, and scarves, and checked out the other floors to make sure we didn't miss anything important. We tried a macaron at Pierre Herme on the basement floor (shoes) and I still think Laduree is better. I have to admit though that the extra chocolate filling in the PH one was really good. We came back to the hotel to rest before dinner. Dinner tonight was at Jean Pierre and Katy Saulnier's house. Jean Pierre is the son of Ton Ton Jean and Ta Ta Mimi and lives just outside of Paris. We took the metro and then the RER to find their home. Katy had given me excellent directions! We walked from the RER station to their home and found Katy watching for us on the balcony of the apartment. Today is Jean Pierre's birthday and we were so pleased to be able to share it with him. They had a very interesting contraption for serving cheese. It is a Girolle, a cheese wheel that when turned shaves the cheese and creates a fluffy piece of cheese that looks like a flower. She bought it in Switzerland so when we go there this week, I will look for one to bring home. The type of cheese she served is Tete de Moine (Monk's Head) cheese from Switzerland. It was delicious!! They also opened bottles of champagne in celebration of the birthday. Katy has just remodeled her kitchen and tonight was the first big meal that she has cooked and served in it. She is an excellent cook and really enjoys cooking. Our meal tonight was themed from Italy. She made Spinach Salad with tomatoes, Osso Bucco, and Polenta. This was Travis's first time to have Osso Bucco. I feel sorry for him because now he will have to compare all Osso Bucco to tonight's dinner and this was the best I have ever eaten! Our meal was so delicious and then came the birthday cake. Edna had found sparklers in the number of years of Jean Pierre's birthday and Katy came out of the kitchen with the sparkling cake. We all sang happy birthday Jean Pierre and enjoyed sharing his Passion Fruit and Chocolate Cake. We are sad that this is our last night in Paris and we will miss all of our French family very much. It was so good to meet cousins that we had never met and see the Aunts once again. We very much look forward to returning to France and visiting with our family again. We are also looking forward to hosting at least one if not more of our family in the coming year. In the morning, Renee and Anna will go to Spain, Tom and Edna will join friends in London, Travis will return home to his family in Oklahoma, and Danny and I will travel on to see Switzerland mostly by train. With just two people traveling, maybe there won't be so many food pictures to see. This trip blog will continue to include the Switzerland part of my journey. We have an early morning tomorrow but I will leave you with the French deep thought of the day, this time from Anna. Having a separate smoking section in a French restaurant is like having a separate peeing section in a pool. I'll let you figure that one out....until tomorrow.