Day 2 Part 2,

we continued our walk towards Notre-Dame,

in the distance the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées,

a stop for a pose,

we were approaching the Pont Alexandre III bridge, 

where it was time for a beer,

next we went up the steps to it,

and continued walking,

to the other side of the road,

looking to our right, the tomb of Napoleon,

Steve, Kai and Diana,

continued walking along the towpath,

I decided to stay on the road, I have to say I did like this boat, a gentleman's yacht,

looking down on some of the riverside cafes,

no sign of them yet,

but here they are, I was walking on the road level as I was looking for some book sellers,

but with no luck, so back to the riverside,

we passed under the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor bridge, with its 2 levels,

past the university, I went back to the road level,

and kept walking until I found what I was looking for, green boxes hanging on the top of the embankment walls, they all belonged to booksellers, called Bouquinistes, a trade that goes back to the Middle-Ages and is unique to Paris, the story has it that a boat transporting loads of books sunk near Notre-Dame Cathedral, the sailors swam ashore taking with them as many books as they could and sold them to the passersby to make up for the wages they had lost, their pitches are still there to this day,

not everybody's cup of tea, but I just love looking at the old books, maps, posters and manuscripts,

the booths seemingly endless,

I saw Steve, Kai and Diana so up they came to have a look,

so many things to look at,

there was just so much to take in,

and it was so hot, a break under a tree seemed like a good idea,

then back to looking,

as we passed a tuk-tuk, there are so many of them here now,

Kai and Diana,

we were near the island,

as another river cruise passed us by,

and there it was in the distance, Notre Dame,

we had visited the cathedral before in May 2016,

group photograph!

it was such a shame about the fire, but work seems to be going on to bring it back to its former glory,

another cruise boat continued on its journey below us,

I could not fail to see, 

the colours of these scarfs as they stood out so well in the bright sunlight,

time for one more,

we walked towards the cathedral,

but of course with building work still ongoing we could not get inside, we had waked a little over 6 kilometers, and it was getting hotter! so we decided on a Uber back to the hotel to freshen up,

next a taxi to the restaurant we had chosen for our evening meal,

past the fountains,

and here we were,

at the Langousta Passey, Livraison A Domicile, a restaurant that specialises in seafood,

were we in for a treat! firstly a couple of complimentary starters, 

'Cheers!'

as we tucked into cold cuts with a egg salad and freshly baked bread,

followed by baked sardines,

another 'Cheers!',

then our meal arrived,

and what a meal, 4 huge crab halves, 2 half lobsters, 4 tiger prawns, a dozen or so langoustines and almost countless large prawns, what a feast!

for dessert Steve chose apple pie,

Kai and Diana shared a home made chocolate mousse,

and then a complimentary drink,

for each of us, which was very strong to say the least! the meal came to 500 euros, at todays rate £430.00 or $523.23, it may seem expensive, but you just had to be there to see how big the platter really was,

we decided to walk back to the hotel,

there was our landmark,

we crossed the bridge,

and made our way back to the café by our hotel,

for a nightcap,

well all of that walking in the heat of the evening was thirsty work!

the souvenir sellers still here as it was getting darker,

no sales whilst we sat in the café,

as the midnight hour approached we made a move inside, if you would like to see more of our holiday in Paris, please click the 'Older Posts' button at the bottom right of the page, and with that we were off to bed.