Paris Revisited: Day 2- Strolling the Seine

After sleeping in for quite a while, and lazing around for several more hours, I decided it was finally time to get out and see more of Paris. I grabbed the local Metro (the 8 ligne) and took it to one of its Seine stops- Place de la Concorde. Up to this point, I had seen only parts of Paris that were new to me (with the exception of the Gare de Nord, which I am quite familiar with, but doesn't really count for our purposes). So it was exciting and new, but it wasn't Paris. That all changed when I emerged from the Concorde Metro stop at sunset:

Now that looks familiar!

 It looked like Paris again! My Paris. I spent many happy hours strolling along this area of the Seine at twilight, and here I was again. My goal was to be at the Eiffel Tower by 7pm, in case it was dark enough that they would start the sparkling. But I had a little over an hour, so I took the opportunity to meander....

Through the Tuileries...

View of the Place de la Concorde from the Tuileries, all the way down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe

Down to the Louvre....

Then over to the Seine!

Discovered a new bridge...

And walked into the sunset to get to the Eiffel Tower

Got my crepe at the base of Trocadero

No sparkling until 8 (which I couldn't stay for), but all lit up and pretty nonetheless!

Fountains at Trocadero

The day rounded out with a dinner at Laura's in-laws. We spoke French most of the time, and it was comforting to know that most of my hard-earned semi-fluency from last year has remained intact. I've lost some random phrases, but I could fearlessly trundle ahead with less-than-perfect, yet still understandable, French. They also served a really excellent Speculoos cheesecake for dessert!

I spent the rest of my evening babysitting Nootka and Skypeing avec ma mere, then lying in bed until 4am because I forgot to take my sleeping pills. So I slept in past noon today. But I am determined to be up and about earlier tomorrow! You will see.

Sunshine Exploits

Getting out and seeing the sights has a snowball-like effect, it would seem. The more you do it... the more you do it. It doesn't hurt that it has been absolutely gorgeous out for the past two weeks.

On Saturday, I went out with a few Central Folk to the Bois de Boulogne, which is essentially a gigantic park (complete with camping ground) on the westernmost edge of Paris. It was gorgeous. We picnicked and met up with some French friends of one of the Central ladies.

We also learned French dodgeball, which really threw us for a loop because it only uses one ball. It made sense eventually, and actually involves a lot more strategy, but still. It's not dodgeball. 

Sunday, I decided to take my writing out into the sunshine (or rather, the shade). Yes, in retrospect, expecting to immediately find a seat in the shade in the Tuileries on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon during Spring Break season was perhaps a little silly on my part. Be kind, I'm still learning. 

Still, I ended up first on a bench, then in a personal chair, and finally, with a fabulous spot overlooking the flowers. All in the shade. Made some excellent progress on my writing, as well!

My view from my first spot

It's finally Springtime in Paris!

The Tuileries as viewed from above

AKA my view from my third spot

A quick wander along the Seine to reach my bus, and I retreated to the land of air conditioning and water.

Notre Dame to the left, and I still haven't figured out that building to the right. Must get on that.

Sadly, no jaunting about yesterday, as I had a full day of classes, but at the very least there will be some very good jaunting this weekend- in Scotland!