After unpacking and unwinding a bit at our hotel, we headed out for our first meal in Paris. <\/p>\n
Ever since booking this hotel, I’d had my eye on a place around the corner called Au Trappiste that specializes in moules frites<\/em> (mussels and French fries) and Belgian beer. The outside patio was crowded with smokers, so we grabbed a table inside. The food was OK (I had their signature shellfish while Maureen opted for the watermelon salad) and the beer was good, but we had our first taste of Parisian brusqueness when I asked (in French) if the bartender could make change for a \u20ac20 note. <\/p>\n I took out my frustration at the bartender by skimping on our tip for our waiter, and we spent the next several hours walking from the Ch\u00e2telet neighborhood where our hotel is to the I think we managed to see all the interesting sites in Paris in just our first night here, so I have no idea what we’ll do with the next 6 days. <\/p>\n
\nArc de Triomphe and back. We covered 8 miles and stumbled home at 1:00am with tired feet. <\/p>\n
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