24 Hours: Last Day in Paris (Terri and Finn’s European Adventure Day 9)
We got a late start after enjoying fresh croissants for breakfast that Finn and Somerset had picked up that morning (see Day 8). Somerset needed to get back to the hostel to pack for her departure the next day and Finn took a nap after she left. Little did we know that was going to be the last time Finn would see Somerset until Thanksgiving break.
We had lunch again at Le Bouquet Wagram since we had such a good experience a few days prior. It was just as we had expected (fantastic) and then things went a little sideways.
We took the metro to a stop that I thought was in the Marais. It wasn’t. When I was last in the Marais, I’d walked there with my husband Zeke but we’d started at the Hotel du Louvre near the Louvre. This time we came from the other direction and I kept looking for familiar landmarks, buildings, shops, and restaurants and could not find what I was looking for. Strike 1.
We kept walking, stopping occasionally in shops and eventually made our way to the Hotel Le Meurice on Rue de Rivoli across from Jardin des Tuileries.
I love having a cocktail or glass of champagne in the lobby bar. It’s elegant and cozy without being stuffy and they provide little snacks to nosh on while enjoying a beverage. They must have changed the bar hours because it was closed at 4 PM. Strike 2.
We walked around the corner to the Ritz Paris at Place Vendome in hopes of having a drink at the Bar Hemingway. The hotel was beautifully remodeled about five years ago and is worth stopping and taking a peek.
The last time I was at Place Vendome in July 2018, this building on the other side of the plaza, was wrapped in a temporary mural that looked like an advertisment. It appeared to be quite realistic.
The Ritz has a beautiful tea service that one day we will try. There was nothing on display as we walked through, searching for the bar. It was eerily quite.
As we were looking for the Bar Hemingway (it’s at the back of the hotel), we stopped in to use the bathroom which has some pretty crazy and gaudy (imo) faucets.
And we were once again disappointed because the bar was closed. This made no sense as it was a Friday after 4 PM. The security person wasn’t sure why it was closed, or when it would reopen, so we walked out the back door and out onto the street. Strike 3 (but we did get to use the bathroom).
As we walked toward the metro, we stopped in at a chocolate shop and picked out two chocolates and two macarons. I did this with the kids in 2013 when we were exploring Paris one day. We stopped in at a half dozen chocolate shops and the kids were allowed to get one at each place. It was so much fun to not only try different treats at different places, but we were able to see the inside of so many cute places.
And then it was back to rue de Levis to do a little bit of last minute shopping on our last full day in Paris. But first, we had a quick drink at a cafe (tea for Finn) and then we picked up some pastries from one of the patisseries to have for dessert that night. We planned to have another snacky-snack dinner to attempt to finish off the food we’d purchased during the week. We were restauranted out too.
Finn wondered if we’d wasted our evening packing and relaxing. I didn’t think so. We’d been on the go for nearly 10 days and we were tired. We also weren’t close to being done with the trip and the next day was going to be a big one (Paris — Lyon — Geneva).
We learned the following week that we need to build rest days into our travel schedule.
The next morning, Finn picked up some croissants (plain for Finn, almond for me) and we continued to try to eat the rest of the food. Spoiler: we didn’t succeed and somehow left with 2 peaches, 8 cherries, 1 tomato, 1 fig, some chocolate, and a cucumber. I think we ate the cucumber like a banana later that day. Or it rotted in a bag. Finn thinks we ate it but the tomato got squished in the cooler bag.
We cleaned the apartment, finished packing, and made our way to Gare de Lyon to catch the train to Lyon. We got there early (as usual) and found a place to camp out as we nervously waited for our train. We weren’t completely clear as to where we were supposed to be. A lovely couple with two young children advised us that we were in the right place.
We got on the (fortunately) air conditoned train on time but we were once again nervous as the minutes ticked by and the train wasn’t moving. It finally left 12 minutes late.
We said goodbye (au revoir) to Paris and began the next leg of our adventure. Paris — Lyon — Geneva (Day 10).
Terri Hanson Mead is the multi-award winning author of Piloting Your Life, Managing Partner of Solutions2Projects, LLC, and an advocate for women through all of her platforms including YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and this blog. Terri is the mother of two college aged kids, is based in Redwood City, CA and in her spare time, loves to travel, cook, play tennis, and fly helicopters around the San Francisco Bay Area, especially under the Golden Gate Bridge.
