Paris so far..

First Day (Premier Jour)

1. Guy in sunglasses at the airport with old-school Christina Aguilera look-alike trailing behind speaks a lot of French to me very quickly. I fail to respond appropriately and he walks by, mumbling.
2. Different guy plays accordion on the train to Mom and Charlie's apartment in Montmarte.
3. I am very tired.
4. We walk to a boulanger and I eat a goat cheese and cucumber sandwich and drink red wine. I feel better. My mom wants to show me puppies at the pet store, but they are closed on Sundays. There are many French dads and moms pushing rain-proof strollers up and down the steep hills of Montmarte.
5. I fall asleep.
6. We walk up to Sacre Coeur and look at the city. The city looks old, white and yellowy-brown. It is rainy and cold (not like in the picture, which I stole from my mom) and Mom and Charlie drink mulled wine.
7. There are Chrismas lights strung across streets from building to building. The light bulbs are bigger and strung in a less organized pattern than the lights outside people's houses at home. They make the streets sparkle.
8. We eat salads with thinly slice garlic potatoes on top. My salad is like a salad nicoise, but is called a salade gourmand. We drink more wine.
9. We come home and I try to stay awake by watching Star Trek: Voyager with Mom and Charlie. Seven of Nine has very large breasts.
10. I fall asleep.


Second Day (Deuxieme Jour)

1. I wake up early and drink coffee and eat chocolate brioche.
2. Eventually we take Bus 95 from our apartment, past the Louvre, over the Seine, and near the Jardin de Luxemborg. We eat a tasty lunch at Bread and Roses (lemony artichoke antipasti) and walk through the garden. It is raining, so there are empty gray-green chairs scattered all over. There is a seagull standing on the head of a statue near the fountain.
3. It is a little windy. A blonde girl struggles with an inside-out red umbrella.
4. We go to the Pantheon. There are Christmas trees outside that are being decorated with large yellow and maroon glass balls. In the crypt Emile Zola is buried in the same room as Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo. Only Alexander and Emile have flowers. I also get to spend some time with Voltaire and Rousseau. Neither of them have flowers. I watch Foucault's pendulum.
4. We walk out in the rain, past the Sorbonne with trendy little French young people in tight pants, long fitted coats, and pointy shoes. People carrying umbrellas bob up and down as they walk on the sidewalk. We walk to the Musee de Cluny (Medieval Art). There are gargoyles on the top of the building with mouths dribbling rain water off of the roof.
5. I see the six unicorn tapestries, something I've been excited about for a long while. They are in a specially lit room (to both preserve them and brighten their colors). It is cozy. They are very beautiful and I am happy.
6. We take the Metro from Rue De Cluny to Sevres.
7. A guy plays the viola. The train is crowded.
8. We take another Metro to Absesses in Montemarte, which I think is the Metro sign that they show in Amelie. I am a nerd.
9. We walk down the street under sparkling Christmas lights and buy baguettes and I get a shiny coffee eclair. We buy baba ganouj (caviar d'aubergine) and other snacks to take home.
10. Charlie is listening to the Velvet Underground in the kitchen.


More later.