Paris, Day 5: Catacombs, Cathedrals, Cluny, and An Unexpected Encounter

Both almond crossants AND the apple pastry at breakfast--I had half of each, along with the usual delicious fruit and baguette with butter.

Here are Beth and Matt waiting for the Metro:

We arrived at the Catacombs just after they opened at 10:00 am, and there was already a line of people waiting to get in. We waited for about 45 minutes:

Hoping that none of us turned out to have a "nervous disposition":

After exiting the Catacombs, we hopped back on the Metro to Église Saint-Sulpice, where we were lucky enough to hear and see the organist at work:

Saint-Sulpice was also the site of my unexpected encounter for the day. After we looked around the church, I was trying to decide if I should get in the line to go up to the organ loft, since Matt isn't a big fan of either churches or classical music. John encouraged me to join the queue, so I did. I took my place in line, and was trying to read the sign on the door, when I heard "Edna?" from my left. It was Debbie, who sits next to me in S&P! She and her family are on a 5.5 week trip to Italy and France, and are staying near Notre Dame!

Our next stop was lunch. For everyone who's been enjoying my food photos, you'll be happy to hear that there are TWO sets today. First, lunch. We stopped at L'Ecritoire brasserie in front of the Sorbonne. John had duck confit with sauteed potatoes and garlic:

Matt had entrecote with bearnaise sauce and fries:

Beth had "farmer chicken" with fries:

and I had the Périgourdine salad, with lettuce, tomato, green beans, slices of smoked duck breast, foie gras, and croutons:

For dessert, we had tarte aux pommes chaudes (Beth):

Chocolate mousse (John and Matt):

and tarte tatin (me):

Here's the front of the Sorbonne, where we ate:

Next stop of the day was the Cluny Museum (officially the National Museum of the Middle Ages):

On the way home, we stopped in at Sainte Chapelle, since we somehow missed the upstairs last time we were there:

Here's a lamp post Beth photographed

On the way home, we heard organ music coming out of Notre Dame, so I stopped by to listen to the recital while the rest of the family headed back.

This is the street that our B&B is on (our door is just to the right of the first building on the left side). Notice the three different lines for ice cream:

Here is the original Berthillon store, which is closed until September:

For dinner, we went to Le Brasserie de l'Isle Saint Louis. I had the choucroute garnie (sauerkraut with bacon, ham, five different sausages, and boiled potatoes):

John had steak with a pepper sauce and fries:

Beth had a mixed omelette with fries:

and Matt had rayfish (?) with a butter sauce:

For dessert, we had ice cream again. I tried nougat honey, Beth had mandarin and pink grapefruit, Matt had chocolate and caramel, and John had dark chocolate.

Here's the accordian player who always seems to be on the bridge: