Those boots were not made for walkin'

Over the last two days I have walked a combined 45,000 steps (according to my phone, which has a built in pedometer), I have climbed at least 50 flights of stairs and I actually feel pretty good all things considered. Back in Dublin I was having some foot/shoe problems and tried to just be tough and work through it but now I am so grateful that I didn't. So I guess boots are not a good choice for hoofing it all over the place. Apparently even when they are really well broken in they are too heavy and cause strain on your poor little ankles. Particularly in my right ankle I started feeling this weird creaking and at first thought it would go away but it didn't. So the boots are flying home and I got myself a good old reliable pair of vans that feel oh so much better. I am sad that the boots didn't work out, but they will not go to waste! I will wear those babies the rest of my life, just not for walking across cities apparently. 

And with that, to the recap!

Yesterday I connected with some lovely friends from Portland and together we explored The Catacombs (where I let little bits of my brain all over the floor I'm sure) and The Louvre. Needless to say there was a hell of a lot of stair climbing and step taking in those two events. The Catacombs was really so surreal, no matter how many times you thought you got your head wrapped around how many remains are down there you would turn a corner and see a whole other structure made entirely out of all these remains. In some places it seems like they had so many extra bones they just kind of piled them on top of the beautiful structures they created. Staggering. 

As for The Louvre, well people always say The Louvre is very overwhelming and I don't have a whole lot more to add to that part of it. We definitely hurried through large parts of it to see other things, there is so much that just flashed by I wanted to stop and take in everything. Someone here at the hostel told me that they say of you spent half a minute on every piece in The Louvre you would spend ten years there. Well we only spent 4 hours there but it was truly amazing, I took a lot of picture of paintings which I said I wouldn't do because you can find better quality online but I knew I would never remember all the artists names. I didn't get a chance to go to a few other museums that I really wanted to but I will just have to come back and see those! There is just something about being able to get that close to these actual pieces that really took my breath away. And something I didn't expect, the smells in all the different rooms! Depending on the room you would often get these strange whiffs of something old and musty. It was really fascinating to me, like you could smell their age and the artists who left their mark on them. 

Today I basically just walked all over the city. I ventured south and east of my hostel to go to a few markets which I did! I didn't buy anything, just looked and smelled a lot. Once I had seen the markets I had no other plans but noticed I was rather close to a Falafel place my mom and Mark reccomeded and so decided to just wander down there! It was a beautiful walk down to the spot, past loads of museums and posh shops, little alleyways with all sorts of secrets. And then I finally got down there, AND THEY WERE CLOSED. So sad, there were a few other falafel places nearby but I decided I wanted nothing but the best so turned around and headed back up north. I saw many different faces of Paris, from the ritzy area that the falafel restaurant was in, lots of designer boutiques and museums, to the poorer more run down areas, lots of closed gates on businesses and kinda shady looking characters around. At one point I walked past a music venue (this is middle of the day mind you) and it looked like a huge crowed of young Parisians dressed mostly in black were rallying around, it was clear if they were there for a show or were creating some mischief or social justice movement?? Either way it was very interesting to see so many different parts of the city. I walked all morning up into many places I hadn't seen, finally I started getting hungry and decided to start looking for somewhere to eat, I hadn't had a Pain au Chocolat yet so when I saw a great big line of locals coming out of a bakery I knew that's where I would stop. I got a baguette (still warm!) a chocolate croissant and 2 mini canelé. I ate a little of the baguette walking down the street (who wouldn't) and stopped into a market for a couple peaches and some cheese. That has basically been most of my meals here, baguette, cheese, tomato and peach. No complaints here! After that I walked the neighborhood behind Sacré-Cœur but it was a little too crazy for me with people since it is a Saturday and every soul is on the move. Eventually I found a calm-ish cafe and had a glass of wine and read for a while, made eyes at the cute French server for fun and eventually went back to the hostel for dinner and a chat with my best bud and my best dogs ;)

And now sleep, for I have fondu to conquer on the morrow. 

Bons baisers! (Lots of love!)

A

Oh yes! Pictures! I didn't take many today...

I thought these ladies were pretty. 

Missing this one...