Saturday....

Saturday was our final full day in the City of Light before heading home. It started off fun with breakfast in the breakfast room and then I headed over to get a haircut at Marianne Gray located around the corner from our hotel. The Husband had made me an appointment (as alas I wasn't able to get in to see Julien at Frederic Fekkai before leaving for vacation)... and I got a great haircut from Nicolas!

Then it was back to Fauchon by Metro to pick up a picnic lunch for noshing in the Luxembourg Gardens. We got a fantastic salmon sandwich, more tea sandwiches and some madeleines--- yum! After lunch we headed over to see the marionette show. This was a truly French experience. The first four rows at the theater were explicitly set aside for children and the theater "director" made sure to enforce this rule. We saw two small fights break out between children (all about between ages 4 and seven) and then watched the ensuing scolding from parents-- it was quite interesting to see a very staid and fancy Grand-mere take a little bully by the hand and give him a good scolding in French. She then doled out a chocolate eclair to her little blond granddaughter, not missing a beat. The show was to start at 3:30 but in true French fashion it started late, giving the theater director the opportunity to whip the kids up into a frenzy for the show (frenzy whipping involving a cowbell and the kids all shouting "Guig-nol" "Guig-nol" like we were at some sort of rock concert). Miss B really enjoyed the puppet show which included a circus show and the standard punch and judy tale.

After the show we wandered through the garden, stopping to check out the boats at the Medici fountain and then stopping at the Cafe Medici for sodas.

After dinner at the hotel we tried for the third time to get on to a night boat cruise. Doing the Metro circuit from Mabillon to La Mott-Piquette Grenelle to Bir Hakeim with baby and stroller in tow we finally time it right and got tickets for the 10:30 Bateaux Parisien. We boarded the Isabelle Adjani (together with a Spanish high school tour group egads!) and cruised around for an hour enjoying the lights and the sights on the Seine one last time before having to head home.