Vendredi - day six

Friday -  we awoke to Steve's coughing and spluttering, the first of our troupe to fall victim to a French virus. Although not feeling the best, Steve rallied enough to walk about 4 kms of the Champs Élysées to Angelina's Restaurant, famous not only for fine cuisine but for it's hot chocolate. Steve's son and his family rate it as the best hot chocolate in the world. So it was a must. When we arrived, not only was there a queue for those who had not booked, but a group of eight pushed their way in front of us. We were left outside in the bracing breeze for another 5 minutes before being ushered into the elegant interior to a table for four. I couldn't help but feel slightly smug as we passed by the group of eight, standing to one side, still waiting for a large enough table.

As it was already 12.30pm, we decided to have lunch, followed by hot chocolate. After our meal, trés delicieux all round, Steve went the whole hog, Annie and I shared, along with a small citrus tart. Michael declined, satisfying his palate with a fingerful. The chocolate was rich and smooth, and together with the cream, was an almost outrageous indulgence. A gastronomic experience not to be missed but not one to be repeated often.

As we left, Steve was flagging fast, so he and Annie caught the Metro back to the apartment. Michael accompanied me on my quest to find See Concept, a company that makes magnifying reading glasses. I bought a pair in Paper Bark bookstore in Albany. They are a product of France and, as Paper Bark did not have any spares of the ones I have, I decided to buy direct. We set off on foot, armed with photos of google maps which had said it would take us twenty one minutes to our destination. An hour and twenty minutes later, after many wrong turns around the Place de l'Opéra,
we finally arrived at the right building, only to find the enormous wrought iron gates locked. As we stood there pondering our next move, a man laden with rubbish bags came out, so we ducked inside. A fruitless move, as See Concept was on the second floor and access to the lift was by security code only. Defeated, we exited the building and managed to navigate our way back to the apartment via the Metro.

A quick google of See Concept outlets revealed dozens of them all over Paris. I found one in Ave Victor Hugo, and voilà, a new set of specs.