Ode to Paris.

Paris is magical. It is not hyper-saturated like in Amelie. It appears in real color, feels like a dirty city, and it is so much better!  Even the plane ride was beautiful. Flying in the sun was on the ocean,  with little white boats leaving trails of foam in the blue, and clouds drifting above. The coast was golden and I was so excited. We drove into the city on a bus full of Scots, all straight off the plane. We made it to Angela's little flat, where she was kind enough to put us up. Then we took a night walk through the city starting in Le Marais, past the Notre Dame, eerily deserted at night, and across the seine with the perfect crescent moon reflected on its surface.
The next day we breakfasted on brioche at the apartment then headed to Montmartre, where we saw the Moulin Rouge and climbed the steps up to the Sacre Coeur. We saw the beautiful mosaics inside then it was back on the metro to meet some friends. Unexpected highlight was a dinner of hand pulled chinese noodles. So much delicious.

View of the city from the Sacre Coeur

The Sacre Couer

The Eiffel through the haze at dusk. 

Some pretty Paris rooftops. 

Sunday was icy cold and sunny. We went to the Bastille market, where we watched a man juggle with a fishbowl on his head, sampled mangoes and figs, ate roast chicken and potatoes out of a paper bag, and had crepes with jam.  We went to Pere Lachaise to see the grave of Oscar Wilde (sadly under construction at the time) but also got to see the graves of Georges Melies, Chopin, Edith Piaf, and Jim Morrison. Next we took the metro to Laduree to get some of their famed macarons. I got pistachio and chocolate. They were beautiful. We ate them in the sunshine along the Seine, then walked along the river further to the Ile Saint Louis to get some Berthillon ice cream. Cones in hand we perched ourselves on a wall overlooking the river and the Notre Dame. The sunset was lovely. This was followed by a dinner of fondue served by a crazed racist Frenchman.

At the market. 

Bread. 

The chicken man and his chicken stand. 

Leaves falling at the cemetery. 

Mausoleums and cobblestones. 

The seine with some cute barges in the corner. 

The fence with all the locks of love. 

My shoes. 

Angela, Kiley and I. Smiling despite the fact that we missed our macarons already. 

Pistachio macaron. Thanks to Eden for the photo, and for some of the others as well!

General prettiness along the river. 

The girls walking by some booksellers on the way to ice cream. 

The Seine. Also, on the left is the Notre Dame.

Fall leaves on the trees. 

Berthillon ice cream. 

So much happy. 

The metro. 

Muggin' in a passport photo booth. 

Monday was our last day. We purchased pastries and baguettes from the Boulangerie next to Angela's and breakfasted in the park. She headed off to school, and we headed to the Eiffel Tower baguettes under arm, like true Frenchwomen. It was a beautiful day, and the tower was huge, and wonderfully surreal. We picnicked and pranced, taking silly photos and spoiling everyone's sightseeing by being gleeful loud Americans. We left and met up with Angela, she showed us Sciences Po where we gawked at the pretty boys, and then we went back to her place, hastily consumed some fabulous Greek sandwiches, and got back on the metro headed to the airport.

Crazy stairs up to the apartment. 

Angela's place. 

The bakery. 

Coffee and chocolate eclairs. 

Oh look. It is me and the Eiffel tower. 

Me being French. 

Close up of the tower. 

Goodbye Paris!

Despite all the good eats, and unbelievable prettiness it was good to come back to Glasgow where the streets smell of curry and frying things, and people are friendly. Here is a bit of my Paris soundtrack.