REUNITED IN PARIS

This weekend, on the brink of a crazy-busy week, two friends from Minnesota stopped by Paris.  Taylor came for the weekend from Denmark, and I got to play tour-guide for most of Sunday.  Luckily for Taylor, my street was hopping(for a Sunday), due to the antique fair that had taken over the upper part of the street.  Taking advantage of the open stores (unheard of) we got chocolate croissants and a baguette for our hike up the Butte Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur.  We finished the croissants before we hit the first of the gypsies, beginning to set up their "where's the white coin" tables, and took a break on the steps to take in the view.  And most of the baguette...  Luckily the rain, which was supposed to be coming down all day, held off.

After a quick tour of the church, during which I felt a little like a cow, ushered along, shoulder-to-shoulder, with the pack of tourists, it was back down the Butte, past the Gypsies (whose games were now in full swing), and back on the metro.  We walked around the Latin Quarter, did some window shopping, and played the tourists in front of Café de Flore (a Hemingway haunt) for a bit, then popped into another café for lunch.  I went for the french onion soup (soupe a l'oignon gratinée) and Taylor had the boeuf bourginon- a french specialty.  Both were accompanied by more baguette, of course. 

We then picked up some cokes, took a walk along the Seine, through the Tuilleries, and past the remains of Paris fashion week, on our way to catch Rachel at the Gare Saint Lazare.  She had stopped into Paris for her birthday weekend, and was on her way back to Rouen.  Coffees and an hour and a half later, I headed back home.