We started our day off with a visit to see the restored Notre Dame Cathedral. It was so good seeing it again, like visiting with an old friend. They still have quite a bit of work until it is completely restored, but it truly looked beautiful.

A tip of the hat to all the artisans and craftsmen who worked so hard on the restoration. President Macron deserves a lot of credit for keeping his word to restore it. It has cost quite a bit of money, but Notre Dame needed to return to Paris.

We weren’t able to go inside to see the rest of the work. I’ve tried to book reservations, but no luck. As we always say: “Next time!”

After being jostled by the crowds of people for a while, we were ready to move on.

Just across the river is another Marche de Noël. It’s a small market, but had a very nice feel to it. It is set up around the perimeter of a small park with decorations in the center.

Besides some food stalls, there were artisan chocolates, sausages, jewelry, soaps, hats and scarves, some leather goods and artwork for sale.

You needed to get into the stream of people to keep moving, but everyone was pretty chill and enjoying themselves.

From the market, we decided to walk back towards the hotel by cutting through some different areas. I didn’t mention it previously, but it’s 50 degrees F or 10 degrees C – a nice day to walk around.

There were lots of people who had the same idea. Cafes were bustling, shops were busy and the streets were full. We went into a few shops along the way.

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon…no pressure to do anything but enjoy the day.

After enjoying the afternoon, we were ready for dinner time to arrive. We had reservations at a restaurant called Bouillon Racine. It’s a beautiful belle époque era restaurant. Our friends have been there and recommended it, so – pourquoi pas?

When we arrived, we were seated upstairs. We figured that’s where they stuck the foreigners. However, as people started to arrive, all we were hearing was French being spoken.

We started with a glass of champagne, just for the fun of it. We ordered starters of cream of cauliflower soup with truffled ham for Sue, while I ordered marinated shrimp with mango and coriander that came in a rice shell. Both were delicious!

For our mains, Sue had osso buco and I had the duck breast. Again, both were delicious! We paired our meals with a young Gevrey-Chambertin red burgundy wine, which paired perfectly.

Sue finished up dinner with a selection of cheeses, while I had a chocolate mousse cake. A glass of port wine topped off a wonderful dinner and night out.

We debated walking back to the hotel, but taking the metro easily won the debate. A few minutes later, we were back home and getting comfortable for the evening. It’s hard to believe, but we only have two days left in Paris.