City of lights, city of no right angles

I've been to France once before when I spent a few hours in Strasbourg. You can ask mom, I spent the entire time lost. I usually have a pretty decent sense of direction, but something about this country throws off my inner compass. (Coming from a grid city, I find the constant name changes and endless diagonals confusing.) Nick's been using this to his advantage, constantly surprising with the different sites of Paris.

Day one was the the easiest day for him to do this, since we were trying to figure out how to get places from our hotel. I think he may have been surprised a few times himself.Unbelievably, we're wrapping up day 4, but we've managed to hit most of the major sites and still spend many hours lazing in the city parks. We've visited the louvre, notre dame, the d'orsay, Rodin museum (which means I need to finally visit the one in Philly), Montmartre, so many neighborhoods and patisseres. We've picnicked in multiple parks, become fluent in riding the Metro, walked everyday until our feet ached, and then walked some more. And everytime we see the Eiffel tower (from ANYwhere in town) I apparently squeal "GEEE!" (pronounced with a hard 'g'.)

I find myself constantly comparing this town to the Paris of my imagination (the one of Gene Kelly films, Pixar's Ratatouille, and disney world). It is simultaneously just like all of those and unlike them at the same time. I really wish I could speak the language.

We've one more full day in Paris before we head to Belgium. The plan for tomorrow is to climb the Eiffel tower, either by foot or by elevator. We'll see how it goes!

Many thanks to Christin, Elizabeth, and Anne for their suggestions!

-R