Paris: Tuesday...In which we eat much food and get very tired

So, after a fairly eventful night (waking up at 3am, falling back asleep at 6), Matt woke me up around 8:30- and I was very tired. We had a lot on the agenda for the day, and I guess he felt like we needed to get moving ASAP. Or I told him to get me up then. Either way, it felt way too early to be conscious. So while I whined and rolled over to go back to bed, Matt went across the street to our local boulangerie (a store that sells baked goods- mostly pastries and breads) and got us some croissants and juice. The croissants were flaky, light, and delicious. Every country should be so lucky as to have stores that sell them on every street corner.

After we were rejuvenated by the magical power of croissants, we set off on a mission to purchase a train card, also called a Navigo. In France your transportation payment options are somewhat limited- you can either buy a ticket every time you need to go somewhere, costing about 2EUR a pop; you can buy books of tickets (by amount or per day), or you can do what we did and buy a Navigo pass. The last option isn't typically mentioned in travel books: we've heard the french are somewhat hesitant about selling these passes to foreigners, although there's nothing in the law that says you can't. So, armed with an email from the RER metro office saying that we could indeed buy the passes, we set off to find the vender.

The train station we went to was a maze. Up and down stairs and escalators, across platforms, through exits and entrances, continually advertising "confused American" every time we whipped out the map or scratched our heads in despair at our inability to find this stupid office. No one was particularly willing to help us either- this was something that was extremely frustrating, especially since we were asking in french, mes amis. So it wasn't like they couldn't understand us. One gentleman in a booth that clearly said he sold tickets was especially unsympathetic, as he just flat out refused to say anything to us but "non." So when we finally found the woman who was selling them, it felt a little like we had just found the holy grail of train tickets. She was extremely unhappy to be facilitating this transaction, and clearly considered the very idea of selling two Americans these passes akin to an act of treason. But for 38EUR we got them, and they're very fancy, and lovely and they make us feel like Parisians. And as long as we use them roughly 4 times a day, they pay for themselves. Worth it!

So with this accomplished, we went on our way to meet up with Devlin Cole. Devlin is the older sister of Matt's best friend Taylor from school, who is currently living in Paris while she takes a break between college and medical school. Her apartment was heart-breakingly cute, and was enough to make us want to move here now! Now! Now! We first walked to the palace that currently houses the Senate, though we hear very little work actually goes on there (surprise!). We also saw the fountain of Catherine de Medici (very pretty and ornate, though I hear the woman herself was less so), and then decided to continue onto a walking tour of Le Marais. We hadn't even planned to visit this neighborhood, but Devlin sold us on it so we were off! And we are so happy we went.

Matt and I in front of the Senate building

We first went to grab some lunch at L'as du Fallafel, a tiny, super busy felafel joint along one of the main shopping streets in Le Marais. We each had a felafel pita: the best I've ever had (no offense Mom). Crispy and delicious- exactly how a felafel should taste. It was even up to Matt's standards, which is major since he's had felafel in Israel. It was a little overwhelmed with vegetables though, and although I struggled through for about half the sandwich (during which I consumed more vegetables than I probably have in the past year, I should get a medal) I ended up fishing out the balls with my fork (haha), and you know what? No one even looked at me funny.

A street scene in Le Marais. Although it's far lovelier than this picture portrays.

After lunch we went for a stroll. Le Marais is also the Jewish quarter, so there were plenty of stores that Matt was interested in. There were so many people wearing yarmulkes around that he felt comfortable enough to wear his star of David necklace visibly (he's been hiding it for most of the trip). We then decided to go and find some pastries to eat (for dessert, of course), and ended up sitting in a small boulangerie while enjoying macaroons (chocolate, passion fruit, and caramel) and pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants). They were so delicious. At this point, Matt and I were dragging with exhaustion, so going to a museum next was probably not the best idea (actually I know it wasn't), but we went anyway. It was the museum of Jewish history, and it was...mind numbingly dull. For me, anyway. Sure, there were a few cool things, like what synagogues around the world look like, and a few neat art pieces, but there was just nothing there that really grabbed my attention. Matt was practically sleep-walking through most of it, so I'm not sure how he felt about the content.

To wake ourselves up, we all went for a walk out of Le Marais, back to the Hotel de Ville, where Matt and I re-enacted the famous kissing scene in front of it (yes, and we took a picture), and then headed over to the Centre Georges Pompidou. The centre itself is very odd looking...it's an abstract art museum inside, but we opted not to go in and instead sat outside by a fountain, and watched some french children play an increasingly-dangerous game of soccer.

Kissing in front of L'Hotel de Ville

First of all, let me just say that all of these kids clearly possessed much better, and more expensive wardrobes than I do. Seriously. Each 3y/o boy had on tight jeans, fashionable sneakers, a big puffy coat, and a scarf. Little boys. Boys that, in America, would get dressed in the most durable material available on the market because they get dirty, and they're rough, and they rip things. But no. Not in France, I suppose. Another difference: 3 of the kids got in a bit of a fight, and the mother of one boy tugged him over to sit next to her by his hair, with him screaming and carrying on. Publicly. In the states, that lady would be arrested and her kids would be put in foster care and it would be abusive and awful and embarrassing. Here, no one even looked up.*

We went in two of the churches, Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle, both very impressive and beautiful and...churchlike. Certainly worth the visit, but there's not a lot to say about churches. Although Matt thinks any church you have to pay to enter is a church not worth seeing, so I practically had to drag him by his hair. Just kidding. Not really.

The beauty of Saint Chapelle. My camera didn't quite do it justice.

By the time we got back to the hotel to change for dinner, we were completely exhausted. Falling asleep where we were standing exhausted. But we sucked it up and made our way to La Pre Verre for dinner, a restaurant described as a "neo-bistro" (new style bistro) and wine bar. After getting fairly lost at night and being unable to find anyone who would explain to us what to do, we cursed ourselves for not having a cellphone and then wandered around until we found the correct street. We met up with Devlin there and had a delicious 3 course meal- I had the scallops with lemongrass, the steak with wasabi sauce, and then for dessert, we all split a cheese plate, salted caramel flan, and chocolate and truffle cake and ice cream. It was quite good- the scallop dish was my favorite, lemony and sort of sweet and delicious. I even ate the puree of green stuff in the middle. The steak wasn't spicy at all, it had a few sweet notes and was cooked perfectly. The desserts I found to be forgettable, but the cheeses were fabulous. Stinky and creamy and soo worth the indigestion later.

By the time we got back home we were worn out. I fell asleep with my finger on the mouse, on the scroll bar, so that every time I breathed the screen moved up and down...and then I snored so loudly I woke myself up. Because I am gross. Also, Matt almost died laughing at me. It was horribly embarrassing.

So that was Tuesday's adventure. The longest day we've had so far.

*Which is not to say France condones child abuse. I'm just pointing out the differences! 

Click to read about our adventures on Monday.