So this is Paris...

What a truly awesome day.

We slept in and relaxed this morning, grabbing fresh fruit and some nuts at the small grocery right next to our hotel in the north of Paris. After a quick Metro ride we arrived at Pompidou, the museum of modern art here in the city. The building is world renowned because it is built inside-out; everything from the air ducts to the electrical wiring and even the stairs is on the outside of the building with only the exhibit halls on the inside.



Unfortunately, because we all lack in the common sense department, we forgot to check whether or not the museum is actually open, and found out that on Tuesdays in Paris most museums are closed. Instead, we headed south to the Ile de France to do a few hour-long Rick Steves walking tour of the best sights in historical France. We saw the famed Notre Dame cathedral, the Latin quarter all while walking along the beautiful river. While we were on the tour we passed a great looking Greek shawarma stand that I knew I had to have. When we finished our tour we walked back... And it was soooo worth it. Huge pita, lamb shawarma, white Greek sauce and a mountain of french fries. I was in heaven.





In the afternoon we walked to the museum on the holocaust as well as visited a "deportation monument" dedicated to the 200,000 French men and women who were deported to Nazi camps from occupied France. This was a particularly moving monument for me. According to Rick, the monument is built to put the viewer in the shoes of a deportee. You descend from street level into the monument, cut off from views of the city around you. The only thing you see is the sky below you and, through a grate in the ground, the river beneath you. Cut into the island is a small chamber that houses memorial candles as well as a tomb of an unknown deportee. I thought the entire thing was very well done.


We had a few hours to kill after all of this, so we went to a great little parkland just relaxed. We played hackie sack, I took a nap on a park bench and ate an apple. At one point, while steve was juggling the hackie sack ball by himself I decided to try and make some money for him. I turned my hat upside down ob the ground in front of him and put sone euro coins in, trying to pass him off as a street performer.


Finally, at 7:30 we met our good friend Chloe's parents, who live in a beautiful apartment overlooking the river. This is a view from their living room:




They took us out to this amazing French-Chinese restaurant on the left bank. We enjoyed great food and great conversation and were sad to leave them a few hours later.

Overall, a great day. Tomorrow, climbing Eiffel tower and seeing the famed Mona Lisa. Could this get any better!?