We got packed up and ready to go then headed toward Luxembourg Gardens to see the photos that are currently posted on the fence (mountains!). It was raining intermittently, and a bit windy, but the weather is rarely a deterrent to going out and about in Paris. 🙂
We walked through the gardens and out toward St. Sulpice. There was a really beautiful tree in bloom in the Place St Sulpice… it’s fun to be here at different times of the year to see what is flowering when. We stopped in at a chocolate shop we hadn’t noticed before (probably because it’s across from the phenomenal pastry shop, Gerard Mulot, which was closed so we had an excuse to notice something else on that street). We picked up a nice little box to take to Gretchen and Luigi!
We then headed back to the apartment, gathered up our things and walked along the Seine to the RER station at St. Michel. That walk is always a great last view of the city, with a view of Notre Dame and the fountain in Place St Michel before descending to the metro.
We arrived at Charles DeGaulle airport with plenty of time to spare and pulled out the bread, cheese, apple and wine we had cleaned out of the refrigerator and had a little picnic. The flight to Milan was easy and despite some fairly heavy clouds we still got a glimpse of the mountains. (I think my favorite flight so far is the one from Frankfurt to Milan over the Alps. Stunning. I think those pics are in a previous post, actually. 🙂
It was sunny and warm when we arrived in Milan. We took the bus to Terminal 1 then caught the train into Milan and got off at Stazione Garibaldi. We were sort of headed toward the usual way home but there has been a lot of construction in the area and Mark said, “let’s go this way and see what’s up there.” We walked up a set of stairs and arrived at the brand new Piazza Porta Nuova (I’m not sure that’s the name of it). All kinds of cool stuff is up there.
We arrived at Gretchen’s apartment in time to sit and chat a bit and “help” with final preparations for dinner. Luigi arrived home soon after and we sat down to a wonderful time together of catching up.
Hither, Yon and Skies 