I don't like days like these. The day we leave for home. It always feels like a waste of a day. We just spend it waiting to leave.

Our flight wasn't until 6pm so in theory we still had almost a full day in Paris but the reality was we needed to be at the airport at 3pm, which meant leaving the city at the latest 2pm. which was only four hours away.  

So it began at 10am with a leisurely breakfast in the green room where I had the poached egg on toast again, Julie had her smoked salmon again but we abstained from the champagne this time.

We then checked out the room, leaving our luggage with them until we were ready to head for the airport.

It was another warm sunny day so we decided to walk downhill along Rue Blanche (the route we took on Sunday), until we reached Place d'Estienne d'Orves. By the time we had reached a pretty cafe on the corner we had formulated our plan for the rest of the day. It didn't involve stopping for a coffee but not far from here was the most famous department store in Paris, Galleries Lafayette.

Despite being the largest, oldest, most famous department store in France, we weren't here to shop. We were here to look at its glorious architecture!

The business began in 1894 as a haberdashery on Rue Lafayette but soon expanded into several properties on Boulevard Hausman. They then renovated the buildings into a large department store whose jewel in the crown was a spectacular atrium topped with a glass dome, completed in 1912.

We made our way to the perfume and make-up counters and found the beautiful coupelo, as it's called. With its many balconies it looked more like an opera house. It was such a breathtaking sight. 

We decided to take a closer look at the glass dome and headed up the escalators to the third floor where we found Cafe Coutoume. I had a cappuccino; Julie had a Coke Zero as we sat down at the edge of the balcony admiring the most stunning structure inside a department store that you will ever see.

Getting this close meant we could really appreciate the stunning art deco detail. The delicate iron work and the beautiful stained glass were incredible.

We spent a relaxing 10 minutes before we felt we couldn't stretch it out any further. I had more or less finished my coffee inside a minute and there were people now waiting for tables.

However, this was not the end of our time at the coupole. Julie had read they had a rooftop terrace so we continued upwards. 

The glass dome didn't look that attractive from the outside, looking more like an inverted mushroom. But we weren't here to admire its structural merits. There were some great views over the rooftops of Paris waiting for us.

Directly in front was the enormous Palais Garnier, home to the National Opera, rising above all the other buildings. I didn't recognise it at first because this was the back of the opera house. The front is far more familiar.

It was built during the Second French Empire, the period ruled by Napoleon III immediately before the rise of the Belle Epoque, a time where the map of Paris was undergoing great changes with the introduction of wide boulevards. 

In the distance we could see the Eiffel Tower. What must have been the reaction to it in 1896? I'm sure people couldn't believe what they were seeing.

It was only 3km away, but actually looked further. Zooming in for a close up I also noticed the glass roof of the Grand Palais, with the French flag flying from the top of its dome.

As we were about to leave we saw the best view of all, the Sacre Coeur sitting high on the hill of Montemartre.  It was a surprise to see how steep it all seemed from a distance.

We left the rooftop and went in search of Galleries Lafayette's food hall. We remember being amazed by it when we last visited, many years ago. After some head scratching we discovered that the gourmet foods & wines was now housed in a whole separate building.

So we crossed Boulevard Haussman to find it. 

We headed downstairs to their fresh food department. Not only was the produce they had on offer mind blowing, the attention to detail on how they were displayed was on another level. I can't imagine them selling any of it because you wouldn't want to ruin the aesthetics of their displays.

Next we came to the Maison de The Mariage Freres, a tea producer who incidentally made our favourite tea to drink every morning. "We should buy some from here" said Julie. So we went to have a look.

The range of teas on offer was mind boggling, from black to white and green. They even produced a blue tea!

The assistant came to my assistance but I simply couldn't remember the specific variety that I drank every morning at 6am. It was black, so that narrowed it down. "There's a subtle hint of vanilla also" I explained.

He brought a few blends for me to sniff, one was called Marco Polo but it had too much going on. Then Julie said "Is it this one?" 

I sniffed the loose tea leaves and yes, it was very familiar. As soon as I read the label "French Breakfast Tea" then I knew it was the right one.

I usually make the tea using teabags, however, not wanting to be seen to be a common pleb, I bought a tin of the loose leaf. 

It had gone 12pm and we decided to have a large lunch before heading to the airport. So we called an Uber taxi and returned to Place Blanche near our hotel. There was a bistro on the corner, opposite the Moulin Rouge, called Rouge Bis.

Julie ordered the classic duck confit and thoroughly enjoyed it. I only had one choice on their menu and it was a salad they described as the veggie bowl.

It was a shallow bowl filled with a random mix of raw vegetables, avocado, radish, beansprouts, onion, cucumber, some rice and a tasty thick sauce to pour over it, which saved the day.

After eventually catching the surly waiter's attention (the first bad service we experienced on this trip) we paid our bill and returned to Maison Souquet to collect our luggage.

We caught a taxi to the airport arriving at terminal 2B much sooner than I thought. Our check-in wasn't available to us, we were that early!

We found a cafe where we shared an incredibly delicious chocolate eclair filled with chocolate cream, and watched Amelie on the iPad for half an hour before trying check-in again.

This time we were allowed to drop off our suitcase and head through security.

 Our time in Paris was over and we had thoroughly enjoyed our time. Without a shadow of a dout it was our favourite visit to the French capital. Next time we won't leave it as long before we return.