Tourism

So the part I like best about Paris is all the outdoor space. There are parks everywhere with plenty of places to sit, chairs that nobody steals, benches that people are willing to share (even if you have to get cozy), and lots of grass to lounge on. Since I’ve been here a couple times before and don’t need to actually “see” anything, I’ve been walking around the city soaking up the neighborhoods, and enjoying the sun while reading outside. I have at least walked by the major sites (except the Eiffel Tower, that was from a distance because my feet hurt and I couldn’t go any further), and the one good thing about being on my own is I get to watch everybody else a little more closely. I’ve learned the best place to people watch is at the major city sites watching people pose for pictures. Today in front of Notre Dame was fabulous. People from all over, striking a pose alone, with a group, cuddling next to a sweetheart and throwing his scarf over her shoulder, you name it, I got to see it. I need to remember to do this in NYC; it’s just an interesting experiment, what people do when they think nobody else is looking. Besides that, I made friends with a 5-year old girl. She sat next to me for about an hour and kept singing to me and randomly putting her face in front of mine and smiling and shaking her head. By the end she was talking to me, but I had no clue what she was saying—she spoke French. It’s funny, you expect not to be able to understand adults, but not being able to communicate with children kind of threw me. No clue why, but it was a shock, she was so cute and very entertaining, I would have loved to have known what she was saying. So I’ve included a picture of me in front of Notre Dame, so I can confirm that in fact, I did go through with this. The other two photos are of my current shoebox in Paris. Small, but not bad, my only complaint is the terrible lighting in my room; however, the lighting is excellent in the bathroom, which highlights the fact that I haven’t touched my eyebrows in two weeks and I have a year or two left before I have to dye my gray hair. Lovely!