Les Invalides or L'Hôtel national des Invalides as it is officially titled. The home of French military history, a tomb for past wars to rest and be remembered and most famously Napoleon's (and other notable French war heroes) burial site. It also serves as a hospital and retirement home for French war veterans.
Though this day we had set out in order to fill Zoe's desire for brunch (American in Paris style) and Sophie's never ending want for scrambled eggs...
Which we partly fulfilled here.
It was an American run brunch bar/cafe in the 7th called Coutume. We hadn't done a brunch in Paris yet, so we were looking forward to a breakfast tailored to the things our Australian taste buds were familiar with.
We decided to order from the set menu which included your choice of hot drink, a fruit juice, a starter and a main.
The coffee and hot chockie were pretty good.
The starter for the vegetarian menu was apple puree, yoghurt and toasted muesli. Pretty tasty, Maynard gave us a croissant. Even better!
Brilliant and beautiful company for a weekend brunch.
Chuffed with the starters and beverages.
Zoe and Maynard ordered the giant meat feast (it wasn't called that, it's just what it was).
Lloyd and I shared the more modest vegetarian breakfast being on the budget we are.
We have decided to not skimp on experiences, but stinge out where possible. This was one of those moments. We enjoyed the experience, but stinged on the meal.
Overall the place was really great, although a tad expensive for our budget (hence the shared crepe). The funny thing about the whole thing was that whilst the food and coffee was pretty decent, the best part of the meal was actually the orange juice and zingy citrus juice (we compared it to a fresh, natural berocca) that everyone, including the staff had forgotten we'd ordered. We brought it up just before we left and out came three incredibly and almost fluorescent orange juices! The orange juice that came with the meat menu was fresh and tasty, but the slightly sparkling citrus drink/juice that came with the veggie crepe was nothing short of amazing! It was like a slap to the face, in a good way. It woke all of us up instantly.
A little place in the 7th. With the original Casino Royale poster in the window. I think this was the sign that made Maynard and Zoe decide that we must go and see the new Bond film at some point.
This was a strange Egyptian statue we walked past on our way to breakfast. It was part of a metro station in the 7th and was very confusing and out of place in that construction site. Amusing nonetheless.
This was a cool Japanese inspired cinema with an impressive garden. La Pagode, built in 1896 by Alexandre Marcel and commissioned by François-Émile Morin (the manager of Le Bon Marche, the first French department store) as a gift to his wife. It was a ballroom where Morin hosted many receptions (let's call them parties. Yeah!) and after Morin's wife left him for his business partner it became a 400 seat venue that shut it's doors to the public in 1927 to re-open 4 years later in 1931 as a cinema. It remains an art house cinema to this day. Unfortunately there was nothing a bunch of minimalist French speakers could see... except the gardens. Snap!
Which as you can see are quite spectacular when you consider they are just tucked away in a little Parisian street.
A statue outside Les Invalides.
Les Invalides in the background.
Such an impressive building.
It was actually free to walk through the parts shown in the photos. Free to the public. However if you wanted to see Napoleon's impressive and grande crypt and the war museums etc then you had to pay a small fee of around 6 Euros. We will be back to check it out.
Though for now if you want to read a bit more about this impressive monument to war (Never thought I'd be impressed about a monument to war...)
Click here.
This was the first truly cold day we had in Paris. The wind was especially cold.
At least we thought it was cold. Then we met Iceland a week later.
Sophie taking some fashion pointers from the guys behind her. Always wear scarf as balaclava. Simple!
Lloyd didn't learn from the guy behind Sophie.
Neither did these guys. For Shame!
Near the Metro station outside Les Invalides.
Zoe having a power nap on the way home.
We ducked down for baked treats after our walk about.
This is one of Lloyd's favourite bakeries in our area. I'm sure there will be something about mine soon considering how often I visit it.
Having said this we had about 4 favourite bakeries and all of them within a short walk from our place. Welcome to Paris!
Coutume cafe can be found here:
La Pagode cinema:
Les Invalides:
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