Man, we are so high right now...

Ok, not really, but I was composing this in my head while we were atop the Eiffle Tower, and it was true then! But let me start from the beginning... It was a gray, rainy day in Paris yesterday (and today, for that matter) and we decided to spend it in the Musee d'Orsay, which is the best museum I've ever visited. It's housed in an old train statioin, and baby, let me tell you--if train stations still looked like that, I'd pay extra and take the Amtrak. We saw Renoirs, Manets, Monets, Rodins, and dozens of others. Sculptures dominate the great room that was once the main station, each unique and masterfully crafted in a different style. We spent over three hours there, and saw every room we wanted to see.

If there's one think the French have taught me on this trip, it's that "security" is just a word. Walker and I--being intelligent, prepared travelers--took a day pack with us in our trek around town yesterday. When we got to the Musee and realized that they were checking bags and had metal detectors, we quickly calculated that between the two of us we had six knives! Needless to say, we freaked out a bit and began devising places to hide them, as they were just searching bags by hand. We did a pretty good job at it, but needn't have bothered as the guards didn't even glance inside. We encountered the same thing at the Eiffle tower. A huge guard yelled at everyone to open our bags, and then didn't even look inside, but simply passed them to us on the other side of the metal detector. Instead of catching our two Leathermans, three folding knives, six inch picnic knife, and a corkscrew/knife combination, the guards stopped a guy who wass trying to sneak a mini bottle of wine up the tower to toast with his wife. Vive la France, indeed.

We elected to ride the series of glass elevators up to the very top of the Eiffle tower and boy, is that high! We had someone take our picture, and then in return took pictures of no fewer than three other couples (Swedish, American, and Indian) while admiring the scenery. They have a bank of flags at the top of the tower, showing how far it is to the capital of every country in the world from the Champs de Mars, and it was over 6000km to Washington D.C. alone.

After La Tour Eiffle, we met Walker's old boss, Eliot for dinner. We had our first sidewalk cafe experience, which included baguettes, spicy Dijon mustard, barely-seared steak with Bolognaise sauce, excellent local wine and espresso. I love how slowly the French eat! The waiter was a stereotype of himself, wearing all black with a towel over one arm and always courteous. None of that "hi-my-name-is-Stacy-I'll-be-your-server-today-can-I-get-you-started-with-a-drink" stuff. We spent over 2 hours eating our exquisite meal and watching people walk home through the rain.

After leaving Eliot and taking the Metro back to the hostel, Walker and I settled ourselves in the bar attached to the building for a beer. Much like the hostel itself, the beer was predicatably terrible, but enticingly cheap. It didn't take long to become embroiled in conversation with two 30-something French natives--Annai and Vincent--who pulled out a map without prompting and proceeded to give us copious advice on where we should go while we are here. The flood of suggestions ended in a very fast French bickering match over which heighborhood was the most Paresian and has the best cafes. Walker and I decided to cash in and hit the sack, and before leaving the bar I got to check another first off my life list: my first French two-cheek kiss. Comment magnifique.

Finally, for those of you who only wanted to look at the blog for the pictures, I apologize, because I've been unable to post any. The internet in our hostel is free, but the computer has no usb port! I can promise, however, that I will come back and retroactively post some photos when we get to Normandie in a few days.