More Excursions and Shiny Shoes!

2-1-09 (Sunday)

So for the rest of the group today started out with hangovers and frequent toilet visits, but for our small group it began with another exciting continental breakfast and a tram and a shuttle to “Mess Around” which is a shoe and accessory exhibition for new designers and lines to attract buyers and get there product noticed/spread their market. It was mostly shoes, I would say, and some of the companies had the coolest footwear you have every seen. I highly encourage you to check out “polliwalks” for young children (Spencer Jr!) and El Natura Lista (recycled material shoes that are so stylish!) I also got very excited about a brand of shoe called “Rubber Duck” that had shiny, bright colored, moonish boots- so wonderful!

After the exhibitions our same group from yesterday had had lunch with Dana, then took the metro to Notre Dame. We stopped in at a place called Café Panis and ordered some mulled wine. The wine was good, the waiter was not - possibly the rudest person I’ve encountered so far. But The Cathedral was Beautiful! So beautiful sitting on the river, and the intricacies of the stone, and all the statues…I wish I’d had the time/body heat to stare and study it all day. We followed the crowds in and saw the massive inside with gorgeous stain glass, and pillars. There was a service going on too which was really cool to see and hear, especially the house-sized organ - that beautiful instrument looked like it would eat you alive if you even looked at it wrong. I took lots of pictures and put a message in the “Message de Paix” box (message of peace) I also signed the little sign in/prayer book.

From the cathedral we took the metro to Etoile to see the Arc de Triomphe. It was dark by this time so it was all lit up and there was an orchestra playing outside for some memorial thing. We attempted several times to cross the 7 undefined lanes of the traffic circle surrounding the arc , where we were unsuccessful in the fact that we weren’t able to cross, and successful in the fact that we didn’t kill ourselves trying. We were then informed by an elderly woman on a bus that there is a walking tunnel under the street that would take us there safely. Sac re bleu! So we crossed “safely,” then we proceeded to climb the 271 steps to the top of the arc. 8 burning thighs later and we were there! The view was magical. All the lights of the city twinkling around us, the Eiffel tower in the distance, the whipping winds assaulting us from every direction. . . ehhh so the wind wasn’t so magical, but the rest was honestly exhilarating.

We took the metro home after that, after stopping for cookies and a hot drink, then we hit up a cheap Asian take out place I found back near the hostel. Ahh delicious French cuisine ;) We went back to the hostel, then played card games, etc. till we were semi- unconscious. Another lovely day in Paris.

Lauren