parce-que...oui (part deux)

[saturn]

We left the loft at 10:30am to go buy our Eurostar tickets in advance and, on the way to the metro, we came across an outside market. They had everything...raw meat, cooked meats, cheeses, fruit, fresh fish, vegetables, the works. The presentation was gorgeous and I was tempted to buy some fresh food to cook tonight. It was much like the outdoor markets in NYC but those don't often have the variety of meats and cheeses. Plus...it's Paris so everything is a bit more exciting just by default.

From there, we purchased our tickets for Wednesday's trip to London and made our way to the Louvre. On our way in, we passed through a mall and couldn't resist running into the Virgin Megastore for a peek. The copies of "Justified" were stickered with an ad for Saturday's concert. Eeeeee!

Next was the Louvre. There is no way to describe the sheer enormity of the museum. It's massive. We made our way through the Italian paintings and went straight for the Mona Lisa. When all is said and done, I think the event of seeing the Mona Lisa is greater than the painting itself. Except, of course, for the fact that she doesn't stop staring at you. Before we left, Lex & I stopped to take photos of the crowds taking photos of the painting. We walked around the museum a bit more, looked at some tapestries, and then left to visit the courtyard/gardens. The weather has been beautiful so we made the most of it and napped outside on a park bench for a 1/2 hour or so.

Lunch was fast but delicious (sandwiches on French bread) on Rue de Rivoli and then we walked to down to the Seine and across the Pont Neuf on our way to Notre Dame. The river is fantastic and splits the city almost in half. There's so much life on both sides and the views are stunning.

Notre Dame was next. If you ever visit Paris, you must take the time to wait in line and go up the tower at Notre Dame. Aside from the view, which is spectacular, you can see Quasimoto's bell. The damn thing is huge! Just be prepared to walk up a lot "" of steps. And then back down. We went into the church, as well, and were treated to a mass complete with choir. The acoustics blew me away. I just had to stop for a moment and take it all in. Lex and I are determined not to get forget where we are for even one second.

As I mentioned yesterday, my cousin doesn't live far from all this so walked back to her loft and now we're getting ready to hear my cousin's fiance play guitar at a pub. (He's a musician and he just moved to Paris from the States in September. She's been here for 4 years.) After his set, we plan to head back down to the Seine to see the Hotel de Ville at night and get lite/late dinner.


A good, good day. I can't possibly ask for more.