Paris: Day Two, In Which We Go Two and Two

Since Liz was only going to be in Paris for a short time (three full days to explore), we packed in more stuff that you can imagine.  Seriously.  You can't even imagine how much we walked.  Day Two started out early, went late, and covered loads of territory.  We went to two churches and two museums, we walked along the Seine twice, we ended up walking mostly in twos, as Liz and I were taking photos and being slow, and Paige and Kristianna, well, weren't.  It was a two-day if ever there was one. 

We started out, as always, on the Metro. 

 There was some kind of protest going on when we got out.  Kristianna says that's not at all unusual.  So we ignored it and headed to Sainte-Chapelle.

From there we headed along the Seine to St. Michel for lunch and gelato.  I went back for gelato several times during my stay.  I loved this area.

After baguettes and paninis and quiches and Oranginas and gelato, we crossed the river to go to Notre Dame.  And we made certain to put our feet on the star out front, so that we will be certain to come back again.  Being there, for me, was one of those 'oh my life i can't believe i'm actually standing here and seeing this in real life' moments.  Amazing.  And I love the gargoyles.

We often found humour even in serious art, and headlessness became just one theme of running joke photos.  I'm a dork;  what can I say?

After that amazingness, we went to visit Shakespeare-- or at least an English bookstore named after him.  PhD girls, around books?  Fugettabouddit.

Heaven must look something like this, I believe... ahhhhh, bookstores....

Then, as if that weren't enough, we poddled along the Seine again, headed to the Musee d'Orsay.  Liz and I, as newbies to the Paris scene, kept lagging behind taking photos.  Luckily, Paige and Kristianna did eventually wait on us to catch up.

And then, we were there.  And we spent a very good afternoon at the museum.  I didn't know it at the time, but it is my favourite of the Paris museums I saw.  A. May. Zing.

Hooray!  I'm NAKED!!!  Oh yes, proud nakedness became another of those running jokes in photos.  *sigh*  Again, I'm a dork.  I know that already, you don't have to tell me.  =)

And look!  Headlessness, AND nakedness!  It's the perfect photo.  ;)

This wee mischevious cherub looks just like my bubbee.  I swear, he's the spitting image.

These are just a random sample of the gorgeousness I saw.  Live and in person.  The Real Deal.  I often looked like a yokel, I'm sure, staring in awe with my mouth hanging open.  There was no drooling, however, so at least there's that.

Once outside, Kristianna noticed that we were very patriotic-- and didn't even plan it!  Le bleu, blanc, rouge!  And the flag-Polder.  ;)

We took it very seriously, this symbolism.  Oh yes. 



Finally, we were headed home... on a rather meandering path, but still.  We got some great views of lovely sunset and architecture on the way...

And nothing says 'Paris' like a chic scooter.  I want one, actually.

Are you tired yet?! We sure were!  We got home to eat bread and cheese and tomatoes and grapes and drink wine and laugh and talk and begin what came to be a tradition, and my favourite part of the trip:  The Slideshow.  We all hooked up our cameras in turn to Kristianna's computer and huge flat screen monitor, and looked at all our photos from the day.  It was an amazing way to relive the day, through each others' eyes.  I recommend it, if you are ever on a trip with other people, and have a computer with you.  It was hilarious, and just phenomenal to share like that. 

Whew!  Another big day tomorrow...