As soon as we stepped off the train in Paris, we knew we were in for it (whatever that phrase means...). Everything was in FRENCH! It was my first real taste of what an English language learner must feel like--everything was intimidating and loud and frustrating. We waited in several of the wrong lines before we found the right one to purchase metro tickets and get a map. We could see the street where our hotel was on the map, and found the right Metro exit (by this point, we were gaining confidence in our Underground abilities--we even figured out how to do it French!). We were wearing those 20 pound packs again and started hiking down the street toward the street our hotel was on. And we walked. And we walked. I kept saying I thought we went too far, but none of the other streets we saw were on our map. Finally, we found someone to ask. I used my little French phrase book to say 'where?' and pointed to the street's name. The kind woman rattled off to us in French but pointed energetically behind us: we had to walk all the way back. Finally, we found the street--directly across from our Metro station!

We walked through the Latin Quarter, finding a shop called Shakespeare's Corner that has been the home to poor expatriate writers for decades. The owner seems a bit of a hippy, who houses struggling writers for free or very cheap. Hemingway and others have found refuge in this English bookstore. We were invited to a poetry reading...I felt the call of the muse, but V felt the call of Bertillions. Berthillons (I can't remember how to spell the name!) is famous for it's ice cream, and it seemed far more pressing than listening to a reading of Yeats.

We saw the Louvre (it was HOT and there were and impossible number of stairs. And, yes, I believe that's what I'll forever remember most about it.). We took a terrible tourist boat ride (stinky!) with a bunch of high school kids (loud!) and a couple that couldn't keep their tongues off each others' necks (gross!).

We saw Notre Dame and a few other museums...but I am out of time. (But don't let me forget to tell you about the World Cup!) For now... th-th-th-that's all folks!