When we were first starting to plan this trip, I thought we needed to do something really "special" on our last night to commemorate this wonderful family trip. I mean, there is no guarantee that we will all be able to travel together in the future. Thankfully, we all love each other so much (so close quarters are no problem), we all are currently in good health (no guarantees of that in the future), and we all enjoy traveling...this was really a unique opportunity for us all to spend time together. A special final dinner seemed so appropriate. I had something picked out and presented it to the group...and they were all excited about it. However, the more I thought about it, I decided our next to last night would be better. John and Babette's flight back to Nashville leaves early in the morning, and I knew our special dinner would be a late night. We decided to move our dinner to the next to last night. Where was our dinner going to be?!?!? ON A BOAT CRUISING THE SEINE!!
I researched all the various dinner cruise options (there are quite a few). Most cook the food on shore and just reheat it on the boat. I found Le Calife that actually prepares the food on board. All the different boats get high marks for the view, but Le Calife stands above all the other for food quality. They offer several different levels of meals (some with beverages and some without, some with 3 courses, some only 2 courses, etc.). We opted for the "Royal" meal...champagne, a bottle of wine for each 2 people, appetizer course, entree, and dessert. Next we had to choose which level of the boat we wanted to sit in. We opted for the "veranda" which was totally glass enclosed with 360 degree views. There was one level above, but it was open air and I knew the weather could be iffy, and 1 level below (with smaller windows). We booked and paid for this way before we left the US. And in a sweet nod that we didn't plan, our Le Calife dinner cruise was on Sept 26, which would have been Gary, Ron and John's sweet mother's 98th birthday. It was so special that we would all be together to celebrate and toast to Pat on her first birthday since she passed away last November. It was meant to be!
But, we had to wait until 8pm to board the boat...so we had a full day to play in Paris! I had 2 stores I wanted to go to and my willing travel companions were good sports and tagged along with me. I wanted to go back to Mariage Frères to buy some of my favorite tea, and I wanted to check out a store I had read about called Marin Montagut.
First up was Marriage Frères...if you want to smell the most amazing scent, just go in this lovely old store. The combination of all their teas is just heavenly. If I could bottle up that scent, I would buy it by the gallon for an air freshener! I bought several varieties of Earl Grey, and Babette bought a Parisian Breakfast tea. Lenore checked out teas that had rice in them (she was trying to find something similar to what is served at her favorite sushi restaurant at home) and they showed her several rice tea blends and let her look and smell them...not quite what she was looking for, she left empty handed.
This is my bounty that I brought home. I love their little hand tied muslin tea bags! I will dole these out over the next year, making them last until I can get back to Paris to replenish my stock!
This was a matcha rice tea...Lenore wanted it without the matcha and they told her they would not have that for a few more months.
After our tea quest, I led everyone back onto the Metro and we headed to Marin Montagut on Rue Madame (how cute is that street name!?). This is a sweet souvenir store filled with the cutest hand made items, painted by a young man named Marin Montagut. The items in the store are pricy, but oh so cute. I wanted so many things (perfume, scarf, drinking glasses, little knick-knacks, notebooks, napkins, etc.) but I finally settled on a mug. It is bone china, fragile, slight "lumpy" in a delightful hand-made way, and has a sweet painting of the Eiffel Tower and a heart on it, and I just love it. The middle size mug cost 45 euros, so only 1 was in my budget...but I'll start saving for another one on my next trip!
On our way back to the Metro to return home to our apartment, we passed the Passage Cour Saint-André. This darling little shopping street has 2 famous restaurants on it, Le Procope and La Jacobine...both of which are famous because of Instagram and consequentially had long lines out the door. Next door to Le Procope, Ron bought Lenore a very pretty bracelet to commemorate their trip. While they were bracelet shopping, Gary snapped this photo of Babette and me. Two grey-haired ladies with their bags of tea!
Time to head back to the apartment, rest a bit, and venture out for our special dinner!
This is the description from the Le Calife website...and it is a perfect description! "A dinner under the stars of Paris in the historic heart of the city of light. At sunset, you embark under the Pont des Arts, Left Bank, facing the Louvre, sailing on the Seine, for a two-hour interlude of gastronomic and visual happiness".
Ours is the larger boat, not tied to the shore in the photo below. We sat in the front glassed in room...windows all around for an amazing view! And that is the Louvre directly across the river.
My handsome date for the evening...starting off with a champagne toast (and it was really good bubbly too!!)
The best sisters in law in the world! Being an only child, these are the sisters I always wanted! I'm so lucky to have them both in my life now!
Our happy group, setting sail!
There was something for everyone on the menu...we were all amazed by how good the food was! If you are looking for something "different" and really fun to do in Paris, I really suggest checking out Le Calife dinner cruise!
Soup is a hard thing to photograph, but this butternut squash/pumpkin soup was out of this world!
Gary's shrimp and scallop "casserole" with lobster sauce really stole the show...thankfully he shared...I could have licked the bowl clean!
Seeing the sights of Paris lit up at night, while floating down the Seine, was really magical. I can't seem to get any videos to load here...but some of the prettiest sights were going under all the bridges on the Seine all lit up...it was really so lovely. The boat was silent - we never heard it and the ride was so smooth it just felt like we were gliding!
Time for our entrees! Gary had the filet with foie gras...sublime!
And I had the duck confit. You can't see it, but delicious duck is hidden under this layer of yummy potatoes, and was sitting in a puddle of deliciousness!
And now, the moment we were all waiting for...seeing the Eiffel Tower all lit up! It was really breathtaking...and the cameras were all out and flashing!! We were so close, it felt like we could just reach out and touch it. We lingered a long time in this spot basking in the beauty! Somehow I was too busy taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower that I forgot to take any photos of our desserts!
I loved this shot...where you can see the miniature Statue of Liberty (remember, the one in NY was a gift from France to the US) and the Eiffel Tower all together! (I think there are 5 small Statues of Liberty in Paris).
The beautiful d'Orsay was up next! This museum full of Impressionist art is one of my favorites. It is in an old train station overlooking the Seine. The "City of Lights" really puts on an amazing show at night...and there is no better way to see it than from the water!
This night really was perfect...We caught an Uber home and fell happily into our beds, bellies full and hearts warm!
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