Paris

So I went to Paris. And I said things like "Bonjour" and "Bonsoir" and "cafe noir s'il vous plait" and "But I am l'tired."

And I saw the Eiffel Tower.

And I climbed the Eiffel Tower

(there may have been a few lifts involved)

And I ate a lot of bread. I mean, A LOT. And I like bread, but I actually did not go to a single bakery because I was eating that much without even trying. Each breakfast consisted of a croissant,  half-bagette, and coffee. Then lunch was either a sandwich or something else which came with a basket of bread. And dinner of course came with a basket of bread too. I thought I might go hypovolemic due to this sponge-like substance continually sucking up moisture in my stomach. Ok, maybe that was a bit exaggerated and too detailed, but it still felt excessive (sorry Frenchies). I hit up the local fruit stall multiple times just to get my daily roughage. Enough about my eating habits though, oh, actually, I lie, I ate snails too.

And I saw Notre Dame

And Sacre Coeur

But do you want to know the lowdown on Anna's Exclusive Favorites of Paris? I don't really care if you do or not, because I'm about to tell you.

First off, the Eiffel Tower was amazing because you practically feel like you're in outer space by the time you get to the top. In fact I'm surprised they weren't selling oxygen instead of champagne up there. And to think it was meant to only be up for 20 years? Silly French. But really, my quibble here is with the British. Eiffel Tower ticket? €11.80 for under 24. Tower of London? £19.80. Notre Dame? €4.80 under 25. Westminster Abbey? £16.00. St Paul's? £14.50. C'mon England, get on the ball!

My second favorite was the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise which I had selfish reason for seeing, but it turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and was fairly close to our hotel. It was like a forest of above-ground graves - some new and shiny, some moss covered and hidden, some crumbling to pieces. I think I could have walked around there forever. My agenda? Chopin. Gosh I love that man. And his grave was beautiful too. I wish I could have heard Fantasie Impromptu wafting eerily through the air, but the Jim Morrison fans around the corner would have drown it out had the piano music been present. Yup, he's there too. A few "mourners" had generously poured him a cup of wine and were sitting on a nearby stone coffin blasting tunes on their iPod and sipping their portions to keep him company.

Last favorite: Catacombes de Paris. My family would have loved this. Dark, spooky, morbid - what is there not to love? Underground quarry tunnels were filled with the remains of 6 million dead back in the 1800s once the city's mass graves had run out of space. Now bones are piled "artistically" in wall-like formations deep underground. It's dark. It's cold. And there are tons of dead people.

Despite all that fun, it's good to be back in Kentish Town.

Thanks Paris!