I Hereby Promise Not To Judge A City Based On My Emotionally And Physically Exhausted First Impressions

Ok ok so maybe I just needed to take a shower and get some sleep to appreciate Paris. While I think this would be a fun city to have a buddy in I am throroughly enjoying myself now that I have had some food and sleep. Here is a (not so) brief account of my day today:

Woke up and had a lovely breakfast of croissant coffee and orange juice provided by my hostel and in the company of my roommates (a Torontonian and.... Another guy). Took myself up to my dorm and readied for my day! Got on the metro with ease (NOT like yesterday, I was in and out in a breeze) and made my way to Père Lachaise Cemetery, the largest cemetery in Paris. It was beautiful, I went early enough that it was still very quiet and I got to wander in peace and stillness. I am still very wary of pickpockets and the like in the city so this was one of the first times I really relaxed and just walked because no one else was there! I took myself around and then finally tracked down a map and saw some grave sites I was interested in, paticularly Oscar Wilde. 

When I finished up there I wandered a little til found a cafe and sat and had a cafe au lait. I am a little more confidant with my terrible terrible French today and I think people are a little more open to me because of that. As I was sitting drinking my coffee the older man next to me turned to me and started to say something. Finalły I realized he was pointing at my tobacco (Sorry Mom! I'm in France after all!), we had the same type of rolling tobacco and he was all out. I shared mine and we had a kind of sort of conversation, he was kind and asked me where I was from and taught me how to say "your welcome" like someone who actually speaks French :P

I made my way back to my hostel but not before stopping at a produce shop, a bakery (ok 2 bakeries), and a pharmacie. Had a delightful lunch of baguette, tomato and peach. Took a shower and then set off again! This time I went up to Sacré-Cœur, I did get swindeled by a young African man on the steps, there were a bunch of them making little friendship bracelets and I almost got away but engaged too much, I was super diligent and no one robbed me or anything but I did end up give him €3 for a bit of string when it was all said and done. Oh well, now I know and I have a little souvenir! His name was Hankie :)

I made my way up to the church and walked around inside and marveled at the architecture and art, sat and said a little thank you to the powers that be for everything I had been blessed with. While I'm not religious the place made my skin tingle so I figured it couldn't hurt to say thanks. After that I wandered around behind the church, I did notice some heavily armed soldiers patrolling around, anybody know why they have these instead of regular old cops? Either way, I walked past a bunch of amazing fabric, costume and colour shops, sat and had a glass of wine at a cafe and enjoyed the accordion music that was drifting over the buildings from somewhere. 

Quick stop at the grocery store for a bottle of wine, some cured meat and salad ingredients and here I am, back at "home" thinking about preparing dinner. 

And now a billion pictures for your viewing pleasure, as always. 

And that should do it for now!

Bonsoir,

A