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I'm going to summarize Wednesday and today since I didn't write jack yesterday.
Wednesday - I don't think we've been to bed before 1:30 AM since we got here and it's starting to catch up. Every morning at 6:30 a garbage truck grabs trash at the Cafe de Flore across the street. We are all awoken to the lovely sound of a million wine/beer/champagne, etc. bottles shattering. We didn't get moving until around noon. First up: Notre Dame. For whatever reason the line to climb the tower wasn't very long so we were lucky in that respect. It was also starting to spit rain. We climbed. And we climbed. Roughly 400 steep steps that continue in a tight spiral staircase. We popped out on the north tower. Took some photos. Looked at stuff. Got pelted by cold rain and wind. Crossed to the right and then climbed the rest of the way to the top. Same verse same as the first. Scott and I had already done it a couple of years ago so it wasn't as amazing as before but it was fun to see Tanya experience it. Climbing down sucked more than I remembered it. I got dizzy twice from going in circles and had to stop and get my bearings. We left Notre Dame and hit up my #1 on the sites list - Shakespeare and Company bookstore. It's across the Seine from Notre Dame. This place is a little hole in the wall English language bookstore. It's crazy old and a lot of old famous writers used to hang out there. It looks like a bookstore that would be in Harry Potter. Very old, very cluttered. Dimly lit and reaking of literary history. The kind of place that makes you feel special just being there. If you inhale when you walk in it smells like an old library book. The poetry section was behind a wrought iron gate in the corner. The books are stacked to the ceiling and there are ladders for access. There is also a second floor full of books. Books everywhere. I was a pig in s.hit. I dropped a couple of hours and a few dozen Euros and we headed off. The bookstore was by far my favorite place that we've visited. Did I mention that I like books, lol? I'm fairly certain Tanya and Scott didn't have the same experience.
Next stop - St. Chapelle. This is a cathedral that is partially under renovation. We mostly only saw one room that was all stain glass windows. It was pretty. We were getting a little cathedral'ed out, sadly to say. I really wanted to visit the Conciergerie, which is where they beheaded a ton of people including Marie Antionette, but it was only open for 10 more minutes.
We stopped for lunch at a little corner cafe near the Louvre. I had the Quiche Lorraine. Again. Our waiter was a d*** but to be fair he was dealing with a ton of tourists. We hit the Louvre. Scott and I just wanted to run in and visit Mona again. Then we left Tanya to roam while we sat out by the fountain. After the Louvre we hit the grocery store and then came home.
Strange side note - when you're perched on top of a building in Paris you see and hear some strange s.hit. There's a bald woman who comes out onto her balcony and smokes across the street. Tanya's seen another woman hanging out on her balcony in just her underwear. We heard what sounded like a protest in the streets earlier this evening. Twice this week I've heard men singing like sailors who've been at sea for months. Also twice this week I've seen a trio of men who do gymnastics in the street for tips. This is an excellent city for people watching. Hell, all of that was just on our short street.
This morning sucked. We had Eiffel Tower tickets reserved for a 12:30 lift. We took the train from St. Germain to the Champ Elysees area. There is a big transit strike going on right now in France. I'm a little nervous about it because it's been grounding a lot of flights and trains. Hopefully it clears up before we leave on Saturday. As soon as we got off the metro it had started to rain. We were prepared for rain, but it still sucks to walk around in it. We did the first level of the Eiffel Tower and then Scott decided to walk down while Tanya and I went to the very top. It was insanely windy, cold and rainy up there. Cool views, though. Fog was setting in pretty fast by the time we were ready to leave. The rain had also picked up so we took a taxi to the Musee de l'Orangerie that is at the edge of the Tuilleries Garden. We wanted to see the giant ass water lilly paintings from Monet. Ran through that museum pretty fast and then walked to the Musee d'Orsay. Scott and I had already done this one too. I was wet and miserable at this point. We were all tired. I was sweaty. My pants were soaked, my feet were soaked and even though I had in fact brushed my hair before we left it looked like I had been electrocuted thanks to the humidity. We ate lunch at the cafe in the museum and then let Tanya roam around while we hung out. And then we headed home. Tomorrow is Versaille and Giverny day, followed with a boat tour of the Seine at night. I imagine I'll sleep through the entire boat tour because I'll be so tired. Today was a good day, it just sucked to be wet for most of it.
- comments
Tracy This bookstore you visited sounds like a dream. I have never been to place described quite like that. I too love books. What a treat! Jealous! Oh, and did I mention, that I'm jealous! Glad you are having so much fun, seeing so many glorious things and can't wait to see you home. The accounts are a mess. I'm sure you'd love to hear all about that.
kkwilkin Did I mess them up?