A very busy day today, visiting some sites we had visited before and some that were new to us.  Our day started the way we love with breakfast at Café St. Regis.  Their eggs are just divine and I alternate between their omelettes and their eggs benedict.  Not very Parisian of course, so I have to have a baguette and preserves to finish!

First stop was Palais Garnier.  We have tried to visit this on past trips, but either ran out of time, or got here too late for a visit, so we started the day here.  It was well worth waiting for and G and I both loved it.  A stunning building.

Next stop was to be a drink at the Ritz.  We have visited Hemingway Bars all around the world, so have always wanted a drink at the one at the Ritz in Paris, but the hotel has been under renovation for the last few years.  We arrived just after midday, but then discovered that the bar does not open until 7.00pm.  Oh well, we will have to come back!

We then went to L’Orangerie which we had visited before, but with our teenaged children who weren’t overly impressed.   As we had the Museum Pass this was included.  It was virtually empty and we were able to take amazing photos of each of us almost alone in front of the magnificent waterlily paintings.

We then hopped on the metro and headed to Le Marais where we stopped for lunch is a small Italian style trattoria where I had Saltimbocca and G had Risotto Gambiers.  Food was just okay, but definitely not a place we would return to.

Musee Picasso was next on our itinerary which was also included on the Museum Pass.  I am not a mad Picasso fan but G is and it had been closed on our previous couple of visits.  I left the museum still not a fan but at least I tried.

We then moved onto the Pompidou Centre, also on the Museum Pass.  Whilst an amazing looking building from the outside, inside also reminded us that we are not great fans of modern art. 

This is the beauty of the Museum Pass, though.  You can simply wander in and out of the included museums without worrying about entrance costs and so on.  We probably didn’t get as much financial value from it as on previous trips, but it is still so convenient that we would probably always buy one.

We returned to our hotel to pick up some laundry and found a self-serve laundromat back in the Marais.  We dropped in the washing and wandered around the corner to a small bistro where we sat with a carafe of red wine and people watched.  It was lovely to see people out with their small dogs as darkness fell, a very enjoyable time indeed.  We so fell so in love with the gorgeous little Westies that we saw, that we purchased one ourselves when we got home!

Dinner that evening was wonderful at a small restaurant named Le Tournebievre.  It was opposite the banks of the Seine with stunning views of Notre Dame all lit up.  We had the most amazing fish soup to start and a divine chocolate fondant to finish.  For main I had pot au feu, which while nice was not as good as the entrée and dessert.  Definitely a restaurant to return to if we are lucky enough to get back to Paris.