Kristy+IynVisit Day 4: Eiffel, Nôtre-Dame, Chez Denise

[NOTE: Now Improved with Pictures! Thanks to Kristy for taking these.]

Today was a day of real hard-core tourism. We started off the day (a bit late) with a trip to the the best croissant place in town (Pâtisserie Millet), followed by the runner-up (whose name I can NEVER remember). From there, we walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, where we "embraced the suck" and got in line. It wasn't quite noon when we got in line, and it was past 3pm when we got done with that place. Ultimately, as Kristy pointed out, the tower is much more impressive from the ground. Once you're up there, it's just a view of the city like the one you can get at Montmartre or Montparnasse for much less trouble.

After that, we headed off to the Arc de Triomphe for some photos, and then over to the Latin Quarter. We got some cheap turkish sandwiches (a.k.a. gyros, döner kebab, shawarma) and wandered around the neighborhood, stopping at l'Eglise Saint-Severin to let Kristy take a zillion pictures. Afterwards, we headed over to the islands on the Seine to see Notre-Dame. As it turns out, today was the feast of the Last Supper and we were there in time for the evening service, so we hung out near the transept for a few minutes to witness the opening process and choral performance, and then headed back out.

After stopping in the gardens behind the cathedral for a few more pictures and buying some scarves at an overpriced souvenir store, we headed over to Ile Saint-Louis to grab some Berthillon ice cream. As always, Berthillon (see below) didn't disappoint; their ice cream was simply divine. A little while later, we grabbed a spot on the terrasse of one of the cafés overlooking the back of the cathedral, and we hung out for a bit, preparing for our dinner later that night.

Dinner was at Chez Denise (Au Tour Montlhéry), which is this old restaurant that dates from the time when Les Halles was still an open-air market, not an underground shopping mall. The dining is very much home-style, which means the portions are huge and served to the center of the table (to be shared by the diners). I've been here once before and had a really great time. We started by ordering some steamed asparagus in vinaigrette with this HUGE slab of rillettes. After that, I had a strip steak that looked like it was 750 grams, Kristy had the mutton and beans, and Iyn had the boeuf gros sel, which is essentially a very slow-cooked stewed beef brisket served with coarse sea salt. We weren't even able to finish our main dishes, so we let the desserts go and just ordered some digestifs. After a moment to take our picture in front of the restaurant, we hiked back to the métro and headed home.