:: [deux femmes] : paris, day 2 - sunday, december 10, 2006 ::

Waking up was difficult due to the extreme lack of sleep and exhaustion we experienced, traveling to another country and then going to sleep at 5 am seems to have that effect. We were pretty excited to have our first full day in Paris, so we forced ourselves out of our tiny bunk beds on the 5th floor to go down to our corner patisserie (that's a bakery for you non-Frenchies) and picked up some fabulous pastries and then ate them with an espresso in our hostel bar/cafe on the main floor.

We attempted to follow Rick Steves' walking tour (it's the guide book we brought with us, Rick Steves' Best of Europe 2007, I would highly recommend it), which included the Notre Dame, Deportation Memorial, Ile St. Louis, and other stops that we didn't quite make it to.

• Notre Dame - This was pretty fantastic, however the wimpy Christmas tree in front was quite the let-down. It was full of tourists in the square oustide of it, and eventually we maneuvered our way through the crowd of Japanese schoolgirls to make it inside, which was beautiful and dark (apparently they didn't have electricity back in the 12th century).

• Deportation Museum - this was a memorial to 200,000 French victims of Nazi concentration camps. Very tastefully and artistically done. We also learned the origins of the gay triangle symbol, which was pink, it came from the badge the Nazis made homosexuals wear on their arms (the light bulbs represent each of the French victims).

• Ile St. Louis - located across from the Notre Dame on another island (Notre Dame is also on an island). The first thing we see is this Parisian street performer, who looked absolutlely ridiculous. He gave us tiny chairs to sit on, made for 2 year olds, and then he proceeded to embarass tourists watching, perform bicycle tricks, make fun of himself and others and rode around on a tiny bike.

The island itself was very cute, very Parisian, very expensive. We wandered, ate gelato, then proceeded to the right bank.Apparently there are 2 islands in Paris, which we had no clue. This caused us to wander about on the right bank of the river later, thinking it was the left, but it was fine, we ended up seeing a side of Paris we otherwise would have never experienced. It was full of stores and boutiques, and we even stumbled upon an indoor farmer's market with crafts, cheese, and wine, whcih we of course bought a bottle of. The guy selling it said he knew of Oregon becuse of our Pinots!

• Eiffel Tower - Paris' landmark, we took the metro since it's kind of a long walk. We strolled along a park to get there, and Carly happened to step into something not so fabulous. Apparently stepping in dog crap is good luck if you step in it with your left foot, Carly was not so lucky :( It was gorgeous once we got to it. We didn't feel like waiting in the 2 hour line to go to the top, so we just stayed to admire the 5 minute light show when the entire tower glitters every hour. This apparently costs the French about $200,000 a day.

• L'Arc de Triomphe - this was our last stop for the day. It was freezing, but still incredible. It is in the middle of a huge circle of cars and streets shooting off into different directions, so there is an underground tunnel you take to walk to the arc. We were starving and on Champs Elysees, the ritziest street in Paris, so we caved and ate some delicious French McDonald's. Forgive us please.