I need sleep
I must be on the 2AM – 11PM schedule. It sucks. I’d rather be on the 1am – 10pm schedule. I am literally lying awake waiting to sleep and eventually just pop and ambien. The bad news is that I am running out of ambien, the good news is that I went to a pharmacy this morning and showed them my prescription and they were happy to give me 14 more pills. A beautiful thing. I love Paris.
We ran a variety of errands this morning. First we went to a hardware store to replace the hot water pot. Emily went to make tea yesterday. Took the pot off the electric burner and put the pot on the stove. We had a slight fire, although caught it in time. She fried the entire contraption. The separate tea pot is big in Europe, obviously we do it the old fashioned way in our home in NYC where we boil the water on the stove. Looking back it was pretty funny, at the moment, it wasn’t. Spent the morning near the Bon Marche on Rue de Cherche Midi. Dropped a few things off at the dry cleaner. Ouch. Wear the clothes until they are truly gross. The cost is beyond.
Jessica began her french class today. Runs from 9-12. We hooked up with her for lunch. After, she went with her friend who is town and Josh, Emily and I went to Montmartre.
The key, of course, is going to Sacre-Couer to take in the views. Beautiful but touristy and tacky. A one time journey. As we attempt to work our way through the maps and such, we learn as we go. We walked up the hill and realized after that there is a small tram to take you up the hill. I knew that but wasn’t sure where it was. Oh well. A quick walk through the church and then on a mission to find a local patisserie.
The key is google maps. Love it. Your own personal walking GPS system. Isn’t perfect but works better than anything else. We finally ended up at our location, Arnaud Delmontel after a serious walk. Wasn’t worth the journey, taste wise, but fun anyway. There were a few shops where people were waiting in line. I should have trusted my instincts and gone in to those shops. C’est la. We did stop in a vintage shop en route and check out the neighborhood so not all was lost.
Tonight was a classic. Fred made reservations at somewhere he wanted to go. We got there and realized it wasn’t worth staying. So, we walked down the street and went to Brassierie Balzar. It has been around forever. There is even a Picasso hanging in the restaurant with BALZAR plastered across it (by Picasso who must have eaten here for years). The food was basic and fine. Steak, chicken and profiterolles. Nothing to write home about but a good solid well cooked meal. Think Pastis and Balthazaar in NYC but on the lines of the blue hair crowd vs the hipster crowd.
Tomorrow, Fred is going to Slovenia and we are going to attempt to go up to the Eiffel Tower, and suck up the line. I have promised Josh that we are going to get up to the top.
