Winding Down

It's our last couple of days in Paris and we are sad to be leaving although we look forward to setting up our new home in Kingston Beach in Tasmania.  So we have been making the rounds of our favourite places for the last few days.  Yesterday we had a wonderful meal at Café Francoeur which included the French version of mashed potatoes.  Bruce calls them a cardiologist's nightmare since they consist of one pound of butter for every two pounds of potatoes.  And if that isn't enough to make our doctor wince, it was infused with bacon bits!

This morning we went to another cafe where we like the coffee.  Unfortunately they had already sold out of the usual Pain au Chocolat, but with a cheeky smile, our waiter suggested we go to the boulangerie a few doors down and get what we wanted, bring it back and have it with our coffee.  He even suggested we bring one back for him, which we did.

As we went up to the Place du Tertre, we noticed an interesting sign -- or rather a piece of graffiti -- complaining about the air quality in Paris.

Graffiti

It may have been sheer coincidence, but later we passed a refueling station for electric vehicles.  Many of the cars had a particular branding and our curiosity led us to explore this.  Interestingly, just as France has a public bicycle rental scheme, it has introduced a short-term electric car rental scheme.  You become a member and then pay for the use of the car by the half-hour.  Well, it is clean, green and means you don't have to worry about where you park the car since you leave it at any of the other stations near your destination.

Electric Vehicle at Station

While at the Place du Tertre, we had a quick drink at our favourite cafe, Sabot Rouge and bid a fond farewell to our favourite French waitress.  Adele has adorned the Sabot Rouge for as long as we have been going there and she now knows us so well she calls out "Chardonnay et Cafe?" to us as we approach.  She knows very well what we will be drinking.

La Belle Adele

And so it goes in the last few days.  But of course there is still the packing to be done, arrangements made to get to the airport and all of the last minute chores that must be done.  But for now - au revoir.