So Not Worth It

 Many of you know that I have a lot of food restrictions - most of which make eating a lot of French cuisine problematic.

Over the last 2 weeks, I've watched Chris and friends and family stop at patisseries for goodies that I cannot eat. But I've done some research and there are gluten-free and dairy-free bakeries in Paris. So today Chris and I set off for one of them. Rather than go south toward the river and the center of tourist activities, we went east, toward Montmartre. We decided to take the bus (accidently bought a bunch of bus tickets, so we figured we'd see Paris from the bus) and the Métro. The Métro station was in Montmartre, which is just that: a mont or mountain/hill. To get out of the station, we climbed and climbed and climbed. It is one of the deepest stations in the Metro network.

It took some work, but we eventually mastered the GPS, once we figured out that stairs counted as routes - until it dead-ended us at the foot of yet another steep staircase (one of many in Montmartre). I sent Chris up to check it out, which he did. He beckoned me up the stairs, and sure enough, the GF bakery was right there!

It was a tiny place. It was late in the afternoon. There was nothing left. I know I can be difficult, with both gluten and dairy issues. But not even a simple pain au chocolat. Just loaves of bread. Not even brioche because it's filled with butter. Plain old bread. It was so not worth the trouble of getting there. I was so disappointed. On our way down the mountain, I bought myself a bar of dark chocolate to console myself (shout out to Joan for that idea).

At least I got a couple of pictures:

The dome of Sacré Coeur
The funicular up to Sacré Coeur

We also went on a 3-hour tour of The Louvre with my friends Joan and Remy. It hit the highlights and then some and was a great introduction to the huge museum. I especially liked the first statue we saw: Eros waking Psyche with a kiss:


Chris's sister Lisa and her husband Jan are with us now. They'll be here until Saturday or Sunday and then we'll have some time without guests - at least until June.

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