Paris: a New Visitor Arrives!

After our triumphant return from Brugge, I got a good night's sleep and left bright and early to pick up our friend Tanya at the airport. Our ride back into the city was much less crowded than it was on my arrival, which meant having to deal with fewer snarky complaints in French about the size of our luggage. Lucky Tanya.

Tanya did much better than I did on my first day, and after a brief respite at home, we ventured out to see the city. We made our way first to La Bourse, which is like the financial center, and where there is a little street market with lots of produce, dairy, and food stands. We decided to start our day with hot, crispy sandwiches of merguez, a spicy Moroccan lamb sausage, grilled onions, and cheese. They were delicious, but left our mouths and fingers coated in bright red grease that our one napkin couldn't completely manage.



We discovered a beautiful new plant next to the city library, and I had to resist the temptation to nibble on the brightly colored berries.


We stumbled upon a lovely garden at the Palais Royal (I think. Near there at least), where in typical tourist fashion we disturbed the people sitting quietly in the afternoon sun with our oohs and aahs, camera shutters, and maps.


We wandered over to the Louvre and into the Jardin des Tuileries, which is beautiful even in late fall. Only half the trees had started giving up on their leaves so there was still much greenery, and even more people out to enjoy the day. We stopped and sat for awhile at a fountain full of ducks and seagulls, but had to leave when they all started flying around in flocks above our heads, endangering our outfits and hygeine.


We walked the whole length of the park, and then made our way down to the Seine. The water was only slightly murky, despite the recent rains, and it was surprisingly clean! We couldn't have asked for a nicer walk; there was no wind, and even though the sky was filled with dramatic clouds, the sun seemed to be out the whole time and we never felt any rain.


We found some hooks to play on. Any thoughts as to what these are? Places to tie boats when the river has risen? Old horse/carriage lockups? Whatever they were, we wanted pictures. Tanya posed very gracefully:


I, just slightly less so:


And then OH MY GOD I ALMOST FELL INTO THE SEINE!!


Just kidding. There were some big steps leading down to the water. The policemen on the boat in the background were completely unconcerned, but a passerby stopped and said, "Nice shot."