catacombs & laduree

arriving to the catacombs of paris fifteen minutes before the 10am open was not early enough. the line was wrapped around the block once when we arrived, and continued to double-wrap after we got in line! but it was our last day in paris and the catacombs was probably one of the more esoterically interesting sites that we hadn't seen, so we waited +3 hrs in the rain to finally have our chance!

it was pretty disturbing to be honest, and somewhat disrespectful, that people at the time would exhume the remains of six million people to make room for more burials in central paris cemeteries. but it was quite a site for the eyes. we saw mostly femurs and skulls lined neatly up and down the former quarry walls. some of them were so old, dating back to the 1400s, that the bones have started to disintegrate. walking through the catacombs and seeing the remains in person definitely satisfied our curiosity (see it to believe it), but i don't think we will revisit this somber site.

as morbid as the morning was, we hopped in a taxi and hurried over to laduree on champs-elysees for our 1:30pm brunch reservation. after enduring a cold, exhausting morning in montparnasse, we decided to treat ourselves to the ludicrous multi-course le brunch laduree. 

for drinks, we had fresh grapefruit juice, chocolat chaud (hot chocolate and BOY WAS IT GOOD!), and laduree champagne! and brunch included pain perdue (french toast with a custard center), fresh fruit, two mini club sandwiches - one salmon, one veggie, 3 mini macarons, and a basket filled with mini viennoiseries and breads - EACH. haha ...

the highlight of our brunch, however, was probably the sweet elderly parisien couple that sat next to us and chatted us up throughout the meal. so very friendly and kind, and kevin loved that the gentleman finished off his lunch with a coffee and cognac.

the next stop of the day was visiting e.dehillerin, a cozy parisian restaurant supply shop. they had giant size EVERYTHING! i wanted to get so many baking pans, but decided to hold off until i learn to use my new kitchenaid properly :) that means i will be back!

before dinner, we took advantage of the warmer weather (57F) and went for our last run in paris along the seine. it was basically a game of tourist dodging so our running course is all over the place! it was a nice night to see the mini notre-dame and arab world institute.

we had dinner with a childhood family friend, jen, and her boyfriend, thomas, at the l'opera restaurant in the palais garnier. the restaurant design and lighting were stunning - a very fashion forward feeling, and the food was quite delicious as well ~ i had seared scallops over a bed of crunch risotto. best of all though was the company and great conversation. we left the restaurant four hours later :)