A week in the city of love

I just don't even know where to begin! I suppose I should start with apologies for how long it's been since I've written, but I have been out enjoying the city instead of spending lots of time on my laptop, so that's a good excuse at least! Dusty arrived a week ago saturday and I think we walked around at least half of Paris... at least. And I've got the pictures to prove it! I think I have no choice but to write about my time with Dusty in 2 posts because I definitely took somewhere around 400 pictures in the past 10 days.

To start with! Dusty arrived on Saturday and to keep with the not going to sleep until 8 rule for surviving time change, we immediately went out walking. We started from my apartment and walked to the Bastille and then on to Notre Dame. Notre Dame was incredible, as always. It's interesting how you can go to the same place more than once, but get different things out of it each time you go. This time I was particularly struck by all the incredible stained glass. I think the first time I was more caught up in the architecture and magnitude of the whole church. However, the stained glass in the building is absolutely incredible! It was more intricate than one could conceivably think was possible. Nearly each panel is distinct from the others with different colors and patterns, but they are all so small. I've never seen stained glass quite like it.


Once we finished up seeing Notre Dame (which I continue to still say incorrectly) we wandered around the Saint Germain area. Just generally enjoying the city and each others company. By the time we had reached the very strange looking Institute du Monde Arab we were pretty exhausted and made our way back to my apartment. I'm pretty sure Dusty crashed before 8 pm and naturally woke up at 5 the next morning. We figured, what better way to celebrate being in Paris than to eat some really awesome pastries for breakfast.











With this thought in mind we made our ways to the famous (by Paris standards at least) restaurant/pastry shop Angelina's. They are traditionally known for their hot chocolate, but their pastries are damn good. We were both hungry, and knew how great the hot chocolate was so naturally we decided to each order hot chocolate and 4 pastries. This proved to be insane. I think this may be one of the few times in life where I couldn't finish something sweet. I have an incredible sweet tooth, but I was defeated. It was all incredible. So so so damn good, but it was way too much. Especially considering how little food there actually was. Either way, it proved to be a very respectable first meal.

We were both on the verge of an insulin induced coma and thought the only way to possible feel better was to walk, and walk for a damn long time. Angelina's is located near the jardin des tulieries, so we started our walk near there. We wandered around the garden some and ended up making our way down the champs elysees all the way to the Arc de Triumph. Please note the rock star photo; black and white never gets old.

We went home, napped (mistake) then rallied and found a band playing at a venue pretty close to my house. We started walking to the venue and I managed to get us lost, but it turned into a happy mistake! We ended up finding a cool little bar where they were having a jazz jam session. We hung out there and enjoyed the locals playing jazz then made our way over to the venue, which I eventually located. The band playing was this super bizarre band whose lead singer was rather moaning ethereally and playing the harp. It was truly very strange. But still a fun encounter over all.

The next day we figured would be a great day to go to the Musee D'orsay. It wasn't. I failed to notice that the museum was closed on Mondays. But since we were out and about with our day decided to walk around the area we were in. It was an incredible day in Paris, and one of the first days I would really classify as spring. I was wandering around in just a sweater and was perfectly content in life. I had never been to l'hotel des invalides but it was nearby so we headed there. We wandered around and ended up finding the Saint-Louise church, which I didn't know was in there.













 It was a really cool building and pretty church as well. The pretty weather really complemented the day as well.

 We continued walking and made our way to the eiffel tower and eventually stopped to grab lunch.






 After lunch we walked from the eiffel tower to the Church Saint Sulpice and then on to the Jardin des Luxembourg. I hadn't been to either place, and both were pretty awesome. We spent a while just relaxing in the gardens, which was pretty necessary. As best as I can tell, I think we walked about 10 km that day, just an estimation though! Either way it was a pretty whirlwind 3 days there! We saw a whole lot of the city in a little amount of time. On Tuesday, I had a full day of classes and we went to a really great dinner (and Amorino gelato) in the Latin Quarter. A great way to celebrate a long day of classes, for sure.