A good night’s sleep is the perfect way to start off the weekend and banish the jet lag.

Jan and Dave were meeting up with a travel friend of theirs and going to have lunch at Bouillon Racine. It’s a very nice restaurant located near our hotel.

Sue and I went to lunch at a small restaurant called Chez Germain. It had been recommended as a charming place with really good food that was frequented by neighborhood people. Well, that recommendation was spot on.

Sue had a delicious Sole Meunière lunch special, while I went with the old dependable Duck Confit with potatoes fried in the duck fat. It may not have been the healthiest choice on the menu, but it was oh so good! For dessert, I ordered a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream – and two spoons! Two thumbs up for Chez Germain.

We had taken the Metro to get there, then to see some sights around the area, we walked back to the hotel.

Our walk just so happened to take us by the shop of Jacques Genin. You mean Jacques Genin the master of chocolate and caramels and fruit pastes? Yes, that’s the one!

We stopped in and bought a selection of caramels and some chocolates to sample. I promise to let you know what they were all like along the way. For now, I can report that the mango and pistachio caramels were incredible.

It was a nice walk, though it was also humid, so it felt good to get back to the hotel to cool down. Sue even managed to sneak in a little nap.

Our lunch was enough to carry us through, so we opted to skip having dinner. Instead, we snacked on granola bars before getting ready to go out.

Tonight we were going to the Church of Saint Germain des Prés for a chamber music concert featuring ‘Orchestre Hélios’. We were looking forward to going, as the sound is so good inside of the big old churches. For this concert, they were playing various selections from several different composers.

The quartet of three violins and a cello were joined by a virtuoso violinist after playing three selections. They were very good and seemed to be enjoying themselves. A stirring rendition of Pachabel’s Canon and equally rousing Habanera from Carmin by Bizet were early highlights.

Later, when joined by virtuoso Glen Rouxel, they soared playing Vivaldi’s Winter and Les Airs Bohemians by de Sarasate. It was a wonderful evening of beautiful music. Though off to the side, we were seated in the first row of this inspirational church and with your eyes closed you were transported back to the 1500’s – minus the plague.

Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel, with Sue and I stopping off at Le Pres de Clercs for a nightcap. It was a nice night to be outside and people watching while sipping a nice glass of Saint Veran.

A slow stroll back to the hotel was a perfect end to the evening.

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Sunday morning saw us enjoying a light breakfast with Jan before going out for a walk. David, our early riser, had already been out and about for an hour or so.

Our walk took us through a little more of Saint Germain des Prés before veering off towards the Seine. We crossed over the Pont des Arts and when we reached the other side, we were greeted by a peculiar orchestra of brass instruments.

We ducked into the Samartaine department store to check it out. In all the years we’ve been traveling to Paris, it has never been open, but we always saw the sign shining at night. So after years of rehab work, we finally saw the inside. The refurbished store was quite beautiful and the little details were done quite well. It’s an upscale store that I hope will have a long life.

As we were exiting the store, there seemed to be a ruckus on the side street. The band was still playing their slightly off key tunes as a cavalcade of skate boarders were ending a fun run. Dressed in costumes and weaving down the street, long boards, skateboards even a couple of uni boards went whizzing by.

We watched for a few minutes, before heading in the opposite direction. We ended up going around the store and up Rue Rivoli before cutting through the Louvre’s military courtyard. We continued on until we reached the exit, which pointed us back to the Pont des Arts and our return across the river.

Returning to the hotel, we sat and rested for a while – both feeling warm and sweaty due to the humidity. We went in after a little bit and both took a nice refreshing shower to cool off before cleaning up for dinner.

Dinner was at Le Train Bleu. It’s an iconic restaurant located in the Gare d’Lyon train station. The Gare d’Lyon was the train station that the rich folks would use for their travels to the south of France, so the decor was quite elaborate and the food was top notch as they prepared for their journeys.

Our cab arrived and we were off. There were still many people out and about, though the squeaky band from earlier wasn’t following us. The area around the station was busy with cabs dropping folks off and picking people up.

We had a little time before our reservation and used it to wander around and to verify our metro passes. We then looked around for the restaurants grand staircase. A little walk to the left, then a little walk to the right and we couldn’t locate it. It turned out that we were standing in front of it the entire time. Unfortunately, it was hidden behind a temporary wall and scaffolding. Our grand entrance ended up being metal stairs in a dull walkway. C’est la vie!

Inside the restaurant, it shined in all it’s glory: beautiful paintings, chandeliers and ornate decorations throughout the dining room. Crushed velvet chairs and banquets in the sitting rooms had your eyes darting all over the rooms to find the next appealing feature.

We sat in one of the lounges and had a pre-dinner drink, then headed to our table for dinner.

Dinner was not a rushed affair by any means. The menu allowed choices of designed meals – both small or elaborate, plus a la carte options. It turned out that we had three ‘roasted leg of lamb’ and one ‘chicken fricassée’. The lamb was tender and delicious, the chicken was not as good a choice.

Dessert time came and Sue went with the Chocolate soufflé, Dave had a strawberry charlotte, and I wanted a show, so I ordered the crepes Suzette.

And yes, we did have wine. Started with a bottle of Domaine Olivieri Chablis, followed by a bottle of Aloxe-Corton. Both were excellent.

Unbeknownst to us, it had been raining pretty hard while we dined. Add to the rain a full train had just arrived so taxis were a short commodity. We decided to take the metro back to the hotel and made it back pretty quickly. Two trains over a total of eight stops, plus the rain was over before we came back to topside.

In summation, we had another nice day in Paris.

Double summation, the weekend was busy in the city. People were out in force and having a grand time in the museums, parks and streets. No fireworks and free wine, but Heritage Days were a success.