Paris: Part 8

Oh yes, there is one more part to our trip - our last day.

It was originally set aside as a shopping day, but apparently the French are even less flexible than the Swiss, at least when it comes to sales dates, which are rigidly controlled and would not start until after we had returned home. We still went shopping, but more in a theoretical sense than with any intention to actually spend money.

We took the metro to Galleries Lafayette, which is probably the most famous department store in Paris. We spent some time roaming the multi-floor, multi-building, shopping centre before it dawned on me that it was just another big shop and fatigue set in.

From there we headed off to Les Halles, a big neighbourhood filled with shops. We'd been there before at night, and it seemed quite exotic, but during the day it seemed a little seedy (another case of Paris looking better at night?) and our lack of motivation to spend money took the fun out of it a little. Even the sugar crêpes didn't help.

Instead, we made a mercy dash to the Christmas markets at Saint-Germain, where Linda had spotted some red sheepskin gloves days before, her cold hands having hardened her resolve. We got there with only minutes to spare before the store shut for good, and found a pair that fit perfectly resulting in a very happy Linda.

After we abandoned the plan of shopping, we ended up having quite a nice day, popping into pâtisseries to buy various lemon tarts and chocolate eclaires to sustain us for our train trip home.

We travelled back to our apartment to meet with the owner and pick up our luggage, and from their back to Gare de Lyon and our TGV home. The train ride went quickly, fuelled by the previously mentioned tarts and eclaires, and with our minds kept occupied by finally reading our Lonely Planet Paris. Better late than never?