On July 7 we packed up our clothes, had a final breakfast at the Chateau Bellevue hotel, and drove back to Bordeaux. After a little hunting around in the neighborhood south of the railway station, we found the rental agency office and handed in our Corsa, then dragged our bags into the Gare St. Jean and boarded the TGV for a quick non-stop run to Paris.
We got off at the crowded and sprawling Gare Montparnasse and walked to the Hotel Apollon, where we had a reservation. The gentleman who checked us in was friendly and helpful, although he was practically obsessed with the idea of telling us how to get to the Eiffel Tower. Both of us had already seen it, but that didn't dissuade him. Can't have too much Tower, apparently.
After a rest up in our room, we resolutely ignored the helpful gentleman's advice and walked around the Latin Quarter of Paris, in a brief stroll lasting only five hours or so. We had an excellent Vietnamese dinner in a place on the Rue St.-Jacques, discovered a whole "Nerd Quarter" of Paris on the Rue Dante near the river, where there are half a dozen comics and game shops, and circumnavigated the cathedral of Notre Dame before turning back.
By that point all of Paris was gathering in cafes and brasseries to watch the France vs. Germany soccer match on big-screen televisions. Again, security was heavy, with roving patrols of the Army's "Vigipirate" units. We stopped for a snack at a sushi place (sushi is everywhere in Paris) on the Rue des Gaités, and listened to the cheers get louder and more excited as the French team built up an unstoppable lead over the Germans. The crowd counted down as the clock ran out and then erupted in a frenzy of singing "La Marseillaise" and team fight songs, whooping, blowing car horns and trumpets, and cheering.
On that note, we went to bed, with one full day in Paris remaining ahead of us.
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