Before we left the Hotel to visit Parc Monceau, we had spoken with the reception at the hotel for suggestions on somewhere to eat.  They suggested La Mascotte and said it wasnt too far from the Parc.  They showed us on the map how to get there.  So once we left the Parc we made our way to the restaurant.  As we walked up the street this photo below shows what we could see.

It was less than 5 minutes away from our Hotel!  All that time we had been going right and right ( which now is wrong) which would take 10-15 minutes to get to the Champs-Élysées  and this was right around the corner so to speak!

So anyone reading this if you get up to the Arc De Triomphe you can visit the Parc Monceau also.  Wow what a treat!

As we wandered up the street we passed an Embassy and this was parked out the front.

 

I had to take a picture of the Red Car!

We found the street the restaurant was in so of course we turned left.  Walked up a bit and there was nothing, no bistro’s or restaurants or cafes.  So we turned around and went back up the street.

 

As we walked up the street, Paula shrieked “there is my tea shop”.  It was closed, it was probably closer to 8pm.  Typical we find the tea shop right around from the Hotel.  You say we could have used google!  Paula’s I pad wasn’t working, Muriels internet hadnt worked the whole time we were away and I just didnt think of it.  Thats the brain fog settling in.

I also had to take a picture of the shop just to prove we at least found it!  260 Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Paris 8e   If anyone is interested.

There were so many bistro’s and Restaurants in this part of the street.  Indian, Italian, French you name it was covered.  We walked along a little bit and found two Bistros right next to each other. One was La Mascotte   La Mascotte – at 270 Rue du Faulbourg Saint-Honore 8E.  We thought we better go in as the desk clerk had made the trouble of booking our table.

The waiter was very pleasant, the prices were not like they are on the Champs Elyses.  It wasnt cheap, but the prices were not inflated for the tourists.  We found out a few things on our last day.  In Paris/France and probably Europe, they serve you wine by the glass, the bottle or “une carafe”   Our waiter finally explained what no one had before.  So we ordered a “une carafe” I think it was enough for 2 glasses each for Paula and I, or half glasses and a wee bit for Muriel to toast our last night in Paris.

For entrée, Paula and I ordered Cooked marrow bones.  Muriel may remember what she had, but for the life of me I can not remember. Out it came, 3 very large marrow bones each!  Had we asked we could have got away with 1 between the 2 of us.

Like little pigs we ate the lot.  Had I have been at home I would have just picked them up and sucked the marrow out.

Then we had our mains.  Paula had fish, Muriel had steak and I had a burger, which all came with chips.  I didn’t eat my bun, and it was a minced burger, and cooked rare. It was delicious.

Muriel then had dessert. I know because I have a photo of it!  It was pink and looked very cold 🙂

We finished our wine, it was nothing to rave about.  Paid our bill and decided that we  would walk  further down the street a bit more , then we crossed over and walked back up the street.   None of   us wanted to get back to the hotel as it meant our time in Paris and Europe would be over.

This is when we saw the sad part of Paris.  In many doorways there were the homeless setting up their beds to sleep until the morning.  Its happening all over the world, walk around Melbourne or visit Central Railway Station in Sydney and there are the homeless.

I lost count of the times we kept saying why didn’t we just come this way when we first arrived in Paris.  It actually was lucky for us with the shops being closed, we would probably been over the limit in our bags for the trip home!  So we window shopped.  Much cheaper.

I love the flower stalls everywhere in Paris, just so beautiful.  This was one on our way back to our Hotel.

We made our way back to the hotel past the Embassy, and turned right on the opposite side of the Parc Monceau.  It was getting dark and as I turned to take another picture I saw this.  I then crossed the street and took some more pictures up close.

We then turned and made our way back to our hotel.  It had been an amazing 2 weeks.  We had seen so much in so little time.  We had literally walked nearly all of Paris. Tomorrow we were leaving for the airport at 8am so we had to be up very early.  Our flight was due to leave at 12 Noon.

More on the evening/night and our flight in our next post!