trip report: paris day 3

Day three began with a quick metro ride to Notre Dame. Side note: if you're thinking about getting the museum pass, DO IT. It was so worth it to be able to skip all the lines.

Notre Dame was magnificent as always, although I don't remember the lines being quite as long when I was studying abroad. Afterwards, we walked the short way over to Sainte-Chapelle, whose windows have just been refurbished after a lengthy renovation.

Even if you're as areligious as Mike and I are, the stained glass here is a sight I would never miss in this city. Because the chapel is almost all windows, the light -- in its blue, red and yellow hues -- is simply magical.

For lunch that day, we headed to L'Ami Jean, a bistro that had been highly recommended by many of my food-loving friends. While we weren't quite hungry enough to do the gargantuan tasting menu, we did try their infamous parmesan soup, which I have been searching for with no success since I got back to the States. Anyone have a recipe? It was served chilled with peas, crispy onion and bacon. They even left the whole pitcher on our table, which was probably bad for them, but great for us. We never say no to seconds.

After lunch, Hanna and Brian joined us for a trip to Centre Pompidou, which is my favorite museum in the whole city. I love contemporary art and I especially love the facade of the building, which was designed by one of my favorite architects, Renzo Piano.

It being July 4th, when we got back to our hotel room, there was a nice, American surprise waiting for us...

Carrot cake! And I guess it goes without saying that the French are better at making this than we are. Sigh.

After a quick nap, we ventured over to the Canal Saint-Martin, where we had a light dinner at Le Verre Vole. If you're a wine drinker, this place is an absolute must. The sommeliers have a selection of many hard-to-find or unknown labels and they're happy to suggest wine pairings with every course. For my money though, the best thing we tried was this langoustine.