Back in the Barrio

I'm heading to Barcelona and Chau to London with her cousin, so we decided to get together for a quick send-off before our respective trips.

We met at Rue Mouffetard and headed to Kbanito,which was unfortunately closed, making Chau very, very sad. We ended up getting really cheesy crepes (as in "full of cheese", not "cheesy") and hanging out in the square instead.

It wasn't bad at all (except the crepes, which really were too cheesy and kinda grossed me out. From now on, dessert crepes only). It's fun to experience neighborhood square life. The area around my dorm isn't party central, and in SF there isn't that sort of central area where people congregate to hang out and eat, weather and all. It was another of those things that makes Paris feel like a small town sometimes.

We ended the evening in the best way possible, in a cafe having hot chocolate, monacos, and ice cream.

The Very Long Walk part un

Oi! Today I walked just about 12-15 miles (it's hard to track what with all the winding streets and all) and saw a lot of different things, so I'm posting in chunks.

This morning was a little rainy, so I set off umbrella in hand to meet David's friend Patrice by the entrance to the pyramid by the Louvre. Along the way, I managed to send a poor American woman in the wrong direction when she asked me where she could find the Creperie St. Germain. Ooops! And she was only half-a-block away too.

I met Patrice, and off we went. He was an extremely great guide and, after telling me in perfect english that he couldn't speak english well (and with instructions from David), really encouraged me to practice conversing in french. Let's see, he works for the government, is a native Parisian, and likes Washington DC.

He started off by showing me the grounds of Le Palais Royal, which were really beautiful, with long walkways canopied by trees. The gardens used to be a popular place for prostitutes, but it's been cleaned up and is surrounded by luxury boutiques and very expensive restaurants. It was very quiet and empty, which is nice considering we were close to the Louvre, which was filled to the brim.
From there we walked a little further and through some covered shopping arcades specializing in antiques, trough St. Eustache, to the Rue de Monterguell...