Frank is an excellent museum-going companion; he even laughed at my jokes in the Musée d'Orsay, amid all the sculptures ("There are lots of stoned people here...). Crossing the Seine between the two, the wind was nasty, but we did discover one of the cutest things I've seen in Paris: the chained siding of the bridge (to keep tourists from falling in, I imagine) is speckled with padlocks. Each padlock as a name scribbled on it, or a date engraved, for couples or friends or just people marking the day they journeyed the world to see Paris. Little love notes, locked onto Paris forever... I wonder what they do with the keys.
Post lily-pad, we met Janelle and Gillian, also AU students in Paris but in a different program than me, in Le Marais. There we introduced Frank to the famed falafel haunt, which we ate in the nearby Place des Vosges, a very symmetrical little square of a park. I can safely report that the falafels were as good as ever, even though Frank and I had arrived in Le Marais early and discovered heavenly pastries at this little patisserie. I called that our appetizer.
Monday, following my grammar course, I met Frank at the Abbesses metro stop to visit the Sacre Cœur Basilica. I definitely witnessed a trio of pickpockets scoping out tourists exiting the metro, following them up the metro stairs, and then coming back into the metro with their winnings, wash, rinse, repeat. Pickpockets aside (I was very careful), the Basilica was one of the most gorgeous places I've seen in Paris. Pictures weren't allowed inside, so I can't show you, but the domed architecture gives it a very unique look compared to most cathedrals in France. Not that I'm comparing, each is unique and beautiful in its own ways, as far as cathedrals go.
The weather still wasn't cooperating, so even though we were on the summit of Montmartre, the highest point in the area, our view over the Parisian skyline was foggy. I will return on a clearer day, to dodge pickpockets, marvel at the Basilica, gaze out over this city, and walk down the steps where a scene in Amélie was filmed (just in front of the Basilica).
