We spent our time checking out museums and touristy sites (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, walking along the Seine) and hanging out with our new friends from couch surfing.
Every time we turned a corner we came face to face with an unusual building or something strange (see a few examples below, such as one of the many mannequin stores which featured the "superhero" mannequin).
We had to achieve the perfect balance between wine and coffee consumption. It was lovely to see people at little cafés everywhere sipping espresso (or wine).
Trying to communicate with no knowledge of French and a terrible accent was an experience all its own. I'm ready to start leaning French!
There was one evening, after Lizzie and I had wandered all over Paris, that we decided to check out the city sights at night. Although it was off in the distance, we knew we just had to make it to the Eiffel tower. When we were about halfway there it started to sparkle, with little tiny lights going on and off all over it. Not expecting this at all Lizzie and I looked at each other incredulously. We had heard about something that happens to the Eiffel tower every hour but didn't realize it was as magical as this. Now we knew we really had to get there! We arrived shortly before one, enjoyed a late night snack (chocolate whipped cream crepe mmm). Right at one o'clock two things happened simultaneously: the tower started sparkling again, and it started pouring. It felt like the universe was laughing at us. But it was a good joke and we laughed along with it (albeit soaked through and through).
Our last day in Paris was full of disappointments but somehow everything came back around to work out for us. We had planned to go to Centre Pompidou (the crazy looking building with pipes all over it) for the day but it just happened to be the one day it was closed. We chose Musée d'Orsay instead. After the museum we wanted to go to Père Lachaise to visit the grave of Jim Morrison. We arrived ten minutes after it closed (really, who closes a cemetery at 6pm?). That night we ran into a guy from NYC on the street who was lost and in search of a particular dance club. We joined him in his search which led us down all of these narrow streets, asking all kinds of people for directions. We finally found the place, only to see a paper attached to the door saying that it had been closed that night for some random reason. We had made a new friend though, and all went out for wine together. The restaurant we were at played The Doors all night and it was as if Jim Morrison were visiting us because he felt bad that we had missed out on the cemetery. We even ended up back at the Centre Pompidou as our new friend, upon seeing the fountain filled with crazy moving art/statue things, just had to jump in it to dance with them. Even with all the disappointments, it was an incredibly enjoyable last night in Paris.
I know I've said this about every place we've been but I REALLY enjoyed Paris. So much so I would even consider living there for some time. Definitely NEED to learn French though!
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