Day one in Paris could not have went any better! I know you wont believe it but I woke Danny up at 7:00 am and we were out the door and having Cafe and a Croussaint (the Best croussaint ever!) by 8:00 am. Well, I ordered a cappuccino which was awesome and Danny opted for the Cafe...which had the consistency of bunker oil. I have to say he did a great job forcing down that fowl tasting sludge, and without a complaint! That is after adding three cubes of sugar to the tiniest cup of coffee ever. Needless to say, he was ready to run circles around town after that! (let me just note here that there was a lot of eating done today and that anytime i mention eating anything it was the best _____ ever - so i dont have to type that over and over again)
So after the breakfast we strolled down some little streets toward the Notre Dame Cathedral. It wasn't too far and the walk was great. our hotel is outside the touristy area we noticed so it was great walking down these little streets and checking out the businesses, apartments and people out doing their daily business. We thought of you Sean, when we saw the butcher stopped in the road hand delivering sides of beef to the local butcher shoppe.
The Cathedral, of course, was beautiful and at this time of year the crowds were minimal. But i still did not have a working camera so we wandered around some more until we could find a electronics store and get the camera fixed. when we got back to the cathedral the lines had trippled so we decided to move on a try and get back early the next morning to beat the crowds.
we wandered around a little and seemed to get hungry every time we passed any type of shoppe selling anything...so we wandered and ate all day. By the way, no one warned me to look out for random potatos in the middle of the sidewalks, which i tripped over. If we were in Ireland, or South Boston, maybe i would have been on the look out for potatos in the streets. Danny got the best prosciutto bagette and we ate it in front of Ponte San Michele. we strolled along the Sein taking in the sites. Along the way we stopped at a brasserie for FRENCH onion soup (thinking of you mom) and a plate of cold cuts which were strange but good. Danny tasted all the local beers along the way as well, which is really why i think we stopped to eat as much as we did!
we made out way to the Louvre Museum, which was closed, but thats okay. the minimal people really let us appreciate the vastness of the open space in the square. and we were able to stand around and really take in the architecture without being suffoccated with people. it was here that we really began to realize that we think we did this right. it may be cold, but i can imagine the stiffling hoards of people and heat in the summer would make this much less enjoyable. At this point we are please with ourselves and are loving Paris. we have encountered only friendly and patient people. the area around our hotel, being outside the tourist section has few shoppes with english speaking attendants, so it is fun learning international sign language and new words. i didnt realize how much French is NOT like spanish! I thought every language was like spanish!
Before we knew it we had hiked halfway across Paris and back stopping at the most awesome bakeries and cafes along the way. And, it was only 3:00 so we decided to take a nap and get up later for Dinner and the Eiffel Tower. Well, that was the plan anyway. We woke up at 8:00 and our sore muscles revolted so we decided to hang out in the hotel for the night. Danny walked around the corner and brought us back some more of that Turkish Delight, and we uploaded our pictures. We were asleep by midnight so we should be well rested for tomorrows day at Versaille...and dinner at the Eiffel if things go as planned.
Love you all!
