A WALK WITH CLAUDINE

This morning, Claudine and I set off to see the Jardin de Tuileries, which begins at Place de la Concorde and ends at the Musée du Louvre, and the walking path on the other side of the Seine.  The weather was beautiful, and as it was a Thursday morning, the gardens weren't too crowded.

On weekends the gardens are filled with families, and remote-control boats can be rented in the pools that are all over the garden.

Today, however, it was just one old man, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Rue de Rivoli, and the other long streets of Paris. 

Spotted: Claudine!

Beautiful gardens, and the Palais du Louvre (now the museum) in the background.

There she is again! 

Inside the Carousel du Louvre entrance, the inverted pyramid.

From the Louvre/ Les Tuileries you can take a bridge over the Seine to a large walking path filled with board games, picnic tables, and small cafés.

I love the houseboats docked along the Seine; they all have tons of plants on them, and look like little floating gardens.  I think I'd like to live there for a day, but definitely no longer!

Love locks on the pedestrian bridges

Thomas Jefferson!

A wildflower garden outside an area with hammocks and a little shelter that had been filled with couches for the month, after which it will go back to picnic tables.

Claudine stops to roll a cigarette

And then admires the jazz music that's being broadcasted under the bridge (Louis Armstrong- one of her favorites)

PARIS IN REVIEW AND NOTRE DAME

Today marks two weeks in Paris.  On one hand, my first jar of peanut butter is running dangerously low, but on the other, today I successfully walked home from Notre Dame in about a half hour, a journey which, on my second day in Paris, took me three. 

Things I'm loving:

* grocery shopping: not that I don't always love grocery shopping (I do), but it's been especially fun to go the outdoor markets for produce, and the boulangerie for fresh baguettes

* the metro: which comes (at its most infrequent) every ten minutes

* walking: before things get too busy, I've been trying to walk home whenever possible.  I've gotten lost at least half the time, but I'm starting to need my maps (I carry three) less.  Also, I love walking faster than the cars stuck in traffic jams.  

* pretty designs in the tops of coffees

* the weather: which so far has been beautiful every day but one, and unseasonable warm (see things I'm not loving: mosquitos)

* chocolate

* cheese: instead of a sweet dessert, my host mother typically serves cheese.  I have embraced this and have bought a new cheese at the grocery store each week.  So far the winner is appenzeller.

* the buildings: no matter the neighborhood, it's hard to believe the buildings are real, and lived in.  They still seem straight out of movie sets and old books.

* seeing the Sacre Coeur from my window, and hearing people at cafés as I go to sleep 

Things I'm loving less:

* the mosquitos: apparently they've been having a heyday with the warm weather.  They celebrated by biting my lip, which made me look like a duck for my first day of school.

* smoking: the more time you spend around people who smoke, the less appealing it gets

* walking with my bag in front of me, and holding onto it always, always.  It looks funny, and makes taking pictures tricky.

* french bureaucracy: to get a phone, you need a french sim card; to get a french sim card, you need a french bank account; to get a french bank account, you need proof of housing (which is hard to get when your host mom's on vacation).  It's like a less fun version of if you give a mouse a cookie..

* the pet stores on the Seine: I love puppies, but not when they're in tiny smelly cages, and unnaturally sleepy.