Goodbye Paris !

Spoon Restaurant, originally uploaded by quimerizar.

Day three started with having to get up at a reasonable hour to check out. We went downstairs to check out of the hotel and Sophie handed the man the certificate to let him know that she was a secret shopper. He said in a very thick French accent, “you are in-spec-tor?” It was pretty funny. It reminded me of Steve Martin playing a French man in one of his silly spy roles. They gave us cookies and tea bags for our home bath tubs (too bad mine doesn’t work!!).
We then headed out to the Four Seasons. Upon arrival, they greeted us and knew our names as they were helping us out of the car. I was completely amazed. How the hell did they know who we were? I mean, I am sure we weren’t the only guests scheduled to arrive that day? We walked into a marble floor lobby filled with stunning lavender roses and Purple orchids. The place was covered with them. I was in awe and couldn’t stop looking at all the flowers. The pictures I have don’t even do it justice.

The staff was very friendly – it was Madmoiselle this and Madmoiselle that. We were told that our room would be ready at 4, but that they would keep our luggage for us and we could use the spa until then if we wanted to. We had already planned to go to the Louvre. It was raining and cold.
The Louvre was a whole other adventure in itself. I had a few choice things that I really wanted to see – the Mona Lisa and Aphrodite. Sophie, Ed and I made a plan that if we got lost, we would meet at the information center. Literally, 2 minutes into being at the museum we got separated. I didn’t know it at the time, but they got stopped at the ticket entrance because of a bag Ed was carrying. I waited at the top of the stairs for a while but never saw them. I knew they were headed to the Mona Lisa, so I went there to find them. Along the way, I quickly passed by some Raphael, David, and DaVinci works. And then, I came to the room with the Mona Lisa. I walked in and was immediately filled with emotion. I don’t know if it was just because I had PMS and my hormones were out of whack (I mean, I can cry at a stupid commercial in that state), but I got teary eyed when I saw the painting and then turned around to see the depiction of the Wedding at Cana. It took me several minutes to become normal again.
Still no Sophie and Ed. So, I went to our rendezvous spot at the information desk. I waited for about 20 minutes and there was no sign of them, so I figured they had just planned on meeting at our leaving time. I went to go back in and couldn’t find my stupid ticket. They wouldn’t let me back into the exhibits. I even tried showing them my credit card receipt. I was soooo annoyed!!!! I knew we would be leaving in about 45 minutes, and I didn’t want to pay again just to spend that short amount of time there. Then, I got tired of standing and decided to sit up against a wall. I sat there for a few minutes until one of the security guards came and made me move. Then I was really annoyed. It was right then that I took a picture of my irritated self.
Soph and Ed were there after a little while and I lost all of my irritated-ness as minutes after reuniting with them. We headed back to the hotel to get into our room, change to nicer clothes, and experience the European tradition of High Tea, a first for me.
High tea was expensive, but definitely worth the experience. I ordered the Complete Francais high tea – it came with Champagne, my choice of tea, Lobster, Caviar, Crab, Éclair with Gold, Rasperries in Grapefruit Mousse, Lemon Tart, a Madeline, something similar to a blueberry muffin, and an apricot pastry type thing. We sat on velvet furniture in front of a very expensive lookin tapestry while listening to live piano. The funniest part was when the piano player did his own rendition of Pink Floyd – “The Wall”. He also did the Beetles. The whole experience took about two hours. And, for the first time in France, I tried out some French that was more than a Bon Jour, Bon Soir, or Par le vous Anglais. After being coached by Sofie and Ed, I asked for the bill. It was very exciting for me.
Ed and I hung out down in the lobby for a while longer while Sophie went to the room. We went to the bar and each had a Dirty Martini and chatted with some of the other hotel guests. One man in particular, we had a conversation about liquors with Birds in them – Fowl Liquors. Famous Grouse (which we were unable to determine how it was famous and we never heard of it), Grey Goose, Wild Turkey, and Cold Duck. All of this conversation was much to the dismay of his stuck up girlfriend who was annoyed that I was talking to him. Ed and I thought it was funny though.
We headed back up to the room at 9 and decided to all hit the spa. Bathing suits in tow, we went straight to the Jacuzzi. Not sure if there is a temperature issue in France, but the Jacuzzi was a little on the cold side. After we all turned into prunes from the Jacuzzi and Steam Room, we raided the juice bar of “spa juice” – a concoction that was a murky green but tasted pretty good, and apples.
Back in the room it was a sad evening. My last night in Paris. I packed up a few things and then hit the sack. Time to say Bon Soir Paris. Until next time….