Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Paris, Day 8 – Jardin du Luxembourg and Last Time Shopping


On Thursday morning we woke up on time to have breakfast and then pack all of our things. This was our last day in Paris! :( I always get worried whether everything fits in my bags or not. Especially now, since my bag was pretty full already and I had to put an entire extra dress set in! But I managed. :3
Packing, packing, packing~!

We dragged our suitcases into the hall and I checked the room one last time. We took our stuff downstairs and while my mom sat down on one of the cute chairs, I checked us out. I asked the nice lady behind the desk if we could stall our luggage somewhere until the end of the afternoon. We followed her into the courtyard garden and stalled our luggage in a special room there. We thanked her and then left the hotel, where we took our last outfit pictures of our trip.
Outfits of the day!

We had decided to visit a place we had never been before on this day: Jardin du Luxembourg, a garden which was supposed to be really pretty, so we wanted to check it out. But before that we decided to go to Montmartre so my mom could buy some last things there. We crossed the street to get some money at the bank and then we crossed the street another time to look at the cute bakery’s pastries one last time. We walked into the metro station and took the metro to Abbesses. Since it was still early, the streets weren’t very crowded yet. We walked past a shop that was all about angels and cherubs and they had the most beautiful cameo necklaces. My mom and I doubted about buying one together, so we decided to wait to see if we made other purchases that day. We also passed a shop with lots of cute cards.
We arrived at the Sacré Coeur hill and walked into the shopping street, where we bought chocolates at Georges Larnicol. My mom had been waiting a year to buy her favourite chocolate mussels again! The guy behind the counter was very good-looking by the way. *_*
Our chocolates~! ♥

We quickly found the store we had discovered last year: it sells all kind of cute things, from stationary to touristic key chains. My mom had seen a beautiful pink, Paris-themed serving tray there and she regretted not buying it, so we went back to see if it was still there! While my mom walked around the store, I admired all the adorable Ladurée items they had! Everything was so expensive, but so cute! ;_;
My mom quickly found the serving tray (which seemed even more beautiful than last time), but doubted about buying it again! I do admit it was a bit pricy, but they came in multiple shapes and sizes with this theme. I convinced my mom she would regret it again if she didn’t take it, so eventually she took one size smaller than planned. She uses it a lot now. ^^
We left the shop and I bought some touristic jewelry at a shop nearby. I bought a necklace, bracelet and earrings I believe. We decided we were done in Montmartre and walked down the steep street to metro station Anvers, where it was suuuper crowded. Suddenly I spotted a Photomaton and since we wanted to take pictures, we ignored the crowds. But unfortunately I did something wrong, because the machine took only one picture which got printed 16 times, all very small. Oops! -_- I was not very pleased with that. Oh well, at least I took a funny picture with some Wolverine posters.
We took the metro to a station near Jardin du Luxembourg, but when we got out it took me a while to figure out where to go. This was a part of Paris we had never been before, so I needed all my concentration to find out how to walk. Luckily we went the right way. ^^
We arrived at a gate with a sign that said ‘Jardin du Luxembourg’ and walked in. Jardin du Luxembourg is supposed to have a castle and lots of recreational facilites. And of course lots of trees and flowers.
My mom enjoying the park.

There were lots of statues around, but none were really exceptionally beautiful to me. I did really like the playground we passed. It looked like a lot of fun! Children could also ride around in little cars, so cool!
After walking for a while, we arrived at a very big open space and to our left, we could see the palace! It was so beautiful! The sun was quite bright and reflected a lot from the ground, so I was glad I was wearing my hat. ^^ Before we went to the palace, my mom took some lovely pictures of me with our red polkadotted umbrella.
There were a lot of these beautiful flower pots. Great photo material!

We walked around for a bit and took lots of nice pictures. There were many brightly-coloured flowers everywhere. They were so pretty!
Some of the beautiful flowers in Jardin du Luxembourg.

We walked up to the palace. There was a really big, round pond in front of it where children could play with boats. There was a little stall where you could rent a wooden boat with the flag of a country on it that you could use for a certain amount of time. There was no remote, you had to push the boat away with a long stick. It was really fun to see the children play, without electronics or machines, just having fun with their boats. The boats didn’t sink, so they just sailed around the pond, passing ducks that couldn’t care less about them.
After watching the children play for a while, we decided to take some pictures. If I may say so, I took quite a nice picture of my mom!
My mom in front of the Luxembourg Palace!

We sat down on two chairs for a little while (we could see both the Eiffeltower and Tour Montparnasse), while I checked the map to see what the best route would be to the Lolita shops, since we wanted to go there one last time (it was my mom’s idea, I swear)! We left our chairs and walked in the direction of the exit. We wanted to take some pictures around another beautiful flower pot, but some old people were taking ages taking theirs. After what seemed ages, they finally left. I wonder what was so special that took so long to take pictures of?
We walked to the exit (passing a woman who was enjoying her coffee while her two cute doggies were sleeping ♥) and we left the park.
We walked past two ice cream cars that had like a million flavours and several amazing photographs of the Tour de France through the years. They were really amazing! *_* We also saw the Panthéon not so far in the distance.
We crossed the street and quickly visited a cute bakery (with outrageous prices) and then went on our way to the metro. We walked for quite a while and finally we found the station. My mom bought some drinks at a machine, but the machine gave her too much money back. She gave it to a homeless man. ^^
We walked to the right platform and waited. Soon the metro arrived and we sat down. We had to ride quite a while, so we made ourselves comfortable in our seats. Across from us sat a mother with her baby and I have to admit: it was the cutest baby I had ever seen! She was sooo sweet! She had two band aids on her arms, so I think she had just gotten her shots, but she looked really happy nonetheless!
We finally arrived at Ledru Rollin, when I suddenly realised there is a great Photomaton there! We took pictures again (with Amélie), but this time we made sure we chose the right option!
My mom with our new pictures!

We left the metro station and while I went into McDonald’s to use the toilet (where I had to wait for ages), my mom waited outside. A very old couple passed her by, she said they looked really sweet together. ♥
We walked for a while until we reached the Baby shop. ^^
The beautiful Baby shop window!

Claire was there of course and she welcomed us. ^^ Nothing had really changed, but because I had been there last time without my mom, now I could show her everything I had seen. I showed her all the lovely bags (she didn’t like the coffin bag at all), accessories (my mom really wants me to buy a bonnet someday), dresses and blouses. I also showed her the beautiful sax blue lace dress (called ‘Dreaming Sherbet’) that I absolutely adored. Unfortunately, it was very expensive and way over my budget. My mom really loved it too. Later she told me that if it hadn’t been so expensive, she would have bought it for me! N’awww! ;_; ♥
My mom with one of the blouses she really liked! I think she matched it quite well with her outfit!

I browsed around for a while, but nothing (other than the sax blue dress) caught my attention. We talked a little with Claire about the Tea Party and before we left, I asked her for a picture.
With Claire! We kind of matched!

We left the shop and took some pictures in front of the windows! My mom wanted to be in a picture too this time, hihi! ^^
In front of the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store~! ♥

Suddenly I saw Sawada-san (smoking), so I walked up to him and thanked him again for the wonderful Tea Party! Hopefully again next year..?
We walked down the Avenue Ledru Rollin until we reached the Rue Keller. We soon arrived at Angelic Pretty, but it was closed! We read on the door that it would open again at 3:30 pm and since it was almost time we waited. We didn’t have to wait for long, because soon Dominique arrived and let us in. ^^
My mom looked around (she really loved the Angelic Pretty shop with all the old toys for decoration) and I showed her the Promenade de Paris print. She really liked it as well. ^^ She also loved the Drained Cherry dresses a lot! We didn’t only browse the AP section, we also took a look at the other dresses, shirts and cardigans they had to offer, from for example MILK and Tralala. I tried on two really sweet cutsews, but unfortunately they were not made for me. Oh well. ^^
While we were busy, a mother and daughter came in and we started talking a bit. They were German but they lived in Norway and they were really nice! I gave the girl the link to my blog. ^^ We also talked with Dominique for a while.
Meanwhile, I browsed the shop to see if I wanted to buy something. Eventually I decided on a pink and blue 6% Dokidoki bracelet and the blue and pink Heart Lollipop necklace from Angelic Pretty. Both would match my new dress really well. ^^ I went to pay for them (Dominique gave me two postcards with my purchase), thanked Dominique again for the wonderful Tea Party and then we left.
Purchase picture!

We decided to eat something heavy now, as we wouldn’t really have time for dinner because of the train ride back home. We quickly decided to have a Croque Madame at the café we had been two years ago again. We walked back to Avenue Ledru Rollin and quickly found the café. We sat down on the terrace and ordered two Croque Madames, an orange juice and a lemon juice. When the food arrived, I tried my mom’s lemon juice. It was so sour! It didn’t understand how she could like something like that at all! XD My orange juice was wonderful by the way. ^^
Our delicious Croque Madames with Emmental cheese!

While we were eating, my mom asked me where my cardigan was. Then I realised I had left it in the Angelic Pretty dressing room! Stupid me! After we finished our food, we went back to the shop. When we arrived there, the door was closed! Suddenly, Cocotte appeared around the corner and I quickly told her what happened. She called for Dominique (who was just walking away from the shop) and he quickly let me in to get my cardigan. I felt so stupid, having to say goodbye twice. ^^’ Oh well.
My mom and I walked to the big Bastille square, where we took some pictures of the monument and then walked into the metro.
Taking the metro from Bastille.

We arrived at our transfer station and suddenly, while we were walking, we heard music. My mom and I looked at each other and we realised it was the group of musicians we had heard two years ago! My mom really regretted not buying their cd and last year she kept listening if she heard them. And now we found them by accident! We followed the sound and quickly found the men! We kept listening for a while and my mom finally bought their cd. ^^
We continued our way back to the hotel, where we picked up our things. We said goodbye to the neighbourhood (;_;) and then dragged our stuff through the metro. It wasn’t far to Gare du Nord, but it’s still a terrible job.
We finally arrived at the station and while I waited, my mom went to get some drinks and food. Soon after she was gone, our train number was called and we could go to the platform. My mom returned and we walked to our train. We entered the train, stalled our bags, sat down and just relaxed. Not long after, the train departed and we said goodbye to Paris.
Not much happened after that. We had an incredibly annoying child behind us (stupid parents as well), we ate our delicious cakes, my mom slept, I listened to music and after a few hours we arrived back at Amsterdam Central (of course, no delay now -_-). We had a bit of trouble finding my dad (thank you everlasting constructions) who came to pick us up and then we went home.
It had been a magical trip I will never forget!!!

This was my last Paris 2013 post! Thank you all so much for reading about my adventures! I hope you enjoyed them! All of your comments were so nice! ♥
Thank you for staying with me~!


4 comments:

  1. this trip sounds like it was really amazing! it's always very fun to read your trip posts :)

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  2. i was in paris too, it is a beautiful place, i couldn't visit AP ;w; because i didn't know where it was! but i visit BABY :) it is really small but still cute.

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    1. Aaah what a shame! It's close to Baby. I am glad you got to visit Baby. ^^

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