straight from my Paris travel journal . . .

Day 2

8 am

Still not on schedule in terms of wake/sleep after arriving in Paris yesterday morning. Tried without success to fight the "lag" when we got to our hotel but unable to prevent myself from taking a nap. Barely woke in time for a quick dinner before tucking in for an early night. K and I were both awake at 5 am this morning. I was able to go back to sleep for a bit before starting our day for real at 7 am with individual pots of French coffee from room service. The coffee came with a little pitcher of warm milk and chocolate - could definitely get used to beginning my day this way! Watching BBC World News while finishing my coffee . . . overwhelmingly the predominant topic is the sucky (my word) US economy. Yuck.

230 pm

For breakfast had a perfect croissant at a stereotypically perfect Parisian cafe - yea! Then decided to start off kind of slow with a boat tour of the River Seine. We figured it would be a good way to get our bearings in terms of the Paris skyline. It was very,very pretty . . . and very,very cold!

Warmed up by taking a walk to the Arc de Triomphe. On the way we passed by the George V Four Seasons Hotel . . . couldn't stop myself from throwing out every quote I could remember from "French Kiss." This was largely under appreciated and misunderstood by my traveling companions:)

Grabbed lunch at an Italian sidewalk cafe - fromage, fromage, fromage! Now back at the hotel and in fairly desperate need of a nap . . .

230 am

Went to dinner at Altitude 95 - the restaurant at the Eiffel Tower. Kind of a strange atmosphere but definitely a pretty view:) Had a yummy, yummy dinner - creamy split pea soup, herb roasted veal, and an apple/almond tart. I'm still full!

Next, we hit the late show at Moulin Rouge. What an experience. Lots of cheesy dance routines with both male and female performers. Everyone started out fully clothed but that's not how it ended! Odd, really. And nothing remotely sexual about it. Just "hey, what happened to their shirts?" My favorite part was the comic relief by way of a ventriloquist. He used puppets. Puppies. People! Whatever he could get his hands on:) It's been a long, exhausting (not cheap) night but overall worth it. Not sure what tomorrow holds but there is so much I want to see!

Day 3

1230 pm

Slept in secondary to yesterday's late night. Had breakfast with the whole group - cheese omelet, croissant,and coffee. Yeah. Could definitely get used to this:) The rest of the gang decided to take a train out to Versailles. I would love to see it and it has been recommended to me many, many times. But. There is just so much I want to see in Paris. And, honestly, I need some "amy" time. So: I am sitting on a park bench by the Hotel des Invalides where the tomb of Napoleon lies under the dome of the St Louis Cathedral.

Took a wonderful walk along Rue Royale to the Seine. Did the tourist thing with my camera at Place de la Concorde and the Alexander III Bridge - so ornate!

Have a lot of things on my "list" but overall plan is NO PLAN:)

4 pm

Taking a break after walking the Paris streets all afternoon . . . sitting on a bench on the Solferino Pass over the River. Can see the Grand Palais to the west and Notre-Dame in the distance to the east. The sun is shining and I AM EXHAUSTED. But in a deliciously pleasant way. Attempted to visit both the Rodin and d'Orsay museums but long lines thwarted my efforts. Too much to see to wait in line!

I was successful in finding the English language bookstore I was looking for - Village Voice. Just can't resist a good bookstore! Also got up the courage to brave the post office for postcard stamps. So far almost everyone I'd encountered in the city spoke good English. But I was a little concerned that away from the tourism centers that it might be a different story. I practiced "le timbre" under my breath while waiting in line. I think the worker appreciated my effort:) He was super helpful, friendly,and spoke perfect English. He asked me where I was from in the states. When I said Texas he asked me if I kept a gun in my purse. No joke! Now I need to find a bathroom and a latte - in that order! - and then I'll be back in business:)

11 pm

Had the most amazing dinner at a restaurant recommended by K's boss - Au Petit Sud Ouest. Oh. My. God. So, so good! The atmosphere was perfect, everything you want a small French restaurant to be. And the people, so sweet and helpful. It turned out to be almost exclusively a duck restaurant. So French, right? I was reminded of that scene in "Better Off Dead" (with John Cusack) when they have the French-themed dinner in honor of a foreign exchange student- french fries, french toast,etc. Made me smile:) Some of us were doubters initially but we all ended up with very satisfied bellies! I had a marinated duck breast with some kind of fried potatoes after starting with a warm goat cheese salad. Yum. And then yet another apple tart for desert. Double yum. Viva la France! Overall, a perfectly wonderful day and my favorite so far in Paris. . .

Day 4

11 pm

Busy,busy day. No time for periodic journaling through the day so hopefully I can remember all the details now . . . Got an early start in an effort to beat the crowds at the Louvre. We were sort of successful. The line wasn't too bad but it seemed like we were swarmed the second we entered under the pyramid. The nastiest, bitchiest people in Paris work at the Louvre. Just so you know. In the same room as Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is Veronese's "The Wedding Feast at Cana." Lucky for me, everyone was crowded around little Mona so I had a clear and prolonged viewing of the masterpiece. It is a depiction of Christ's first miracle and is apparently the largest painting in the Louvre. I believe it - that sucker was BIG:) Seriously, it was stunning and by far my favorite thing at the museum. But overall? Not impressed by the big "L" - it was too big, too crowded, and just too damn proud of itself.

After a quick lunch we jumped on an open air tour bus as our transportation choice of the day. The afternoon was so beautiful that we ended up riding all over Paris. I revisited Place de la Concorde and Champs-Elyses. We did little circles around Arc de Triomphe and our old friend the Eiffel Tower.

I even got a "butt-side" view of Rodin's "Thinker" from the back of his museum as our bus drove by:) Finally got to spend a little quality time on Ile de la Cite and Ile St-Louis. Still didn't get as up close and personal with Notre-Dame as I would have liked . . . next time.

Had the BEST ice cream/sorbet at Berthillion's on the little island! Discovered that K is a French-guy magnet. We had to stop for a coffee pick-me-up in the late afternoon and chose a great people watching locale. These French boys (18, 19?) hard core hit on her and begged us to take their picture. Of course, we did:)

Less than an hour later she had met 2 new Frenchies - Radman and Amso. I finally got to say "Enchante" to someone! When I greeted Amso with a "bonjour/enchante" to accompany his 2 cheek European greeting kiss he said "Oh! Parlez voo francais?" Uh, no. Sorry buddy. Guess my accent was getting pretty good on the approximately 10 French words I know! They labeled themselves our Paris "boyfriends" and took us out for coffee. We found each other endlessly amusing and they were supremely disappointed when we wouldn't change our evening "program" to go to dinner and then a disco with them:) Dinner with the whole gang was another grand event with a superb restaurant recommendation by K's boss. The atmosphere was beautiful, although a little more formal than the evening before. But, if possible, the food was even better. Perfectly cooked pepper steak with an amazing zucchini casserole. Happy, happy belly. And so ends another exhausting but wonderful day in Paris. My last. Well, for this trip anyway . . . :)