Paris: Shakespeare & Co.

One of my favorite things in Pairs, thus far, is not French at all. The Shakespeare & Co. bookstore on the left bank by Notre Dame is an English-speaking book-lover's dream. Literally every free space is taken up by either a book or a place for you to sit and read said books. I'm pretty sure I could spend an entire vacation just trying out all of their different reading nooks while exploring new books.

Paris: Berthillon

Berthillon, perhaps the most famous ice cream maker in Paris, can be found on the tiny Ile Saint-Louis. The actual store front is closed right now for renovation.* But fortunately several shops on the surrounding blocks sell the ice cream in Berthillon's stead. And the one good thing about not being able to buy from the main shop is that the notoriously long line is now dispersed over many shops. In fact, my brother and I found a slightly out-of-the-way shop to buy from and didn't wait in line at all. But even if we had waited in line for an hour, I think this ice cream still might have been worth it. I can attest that its flavor is not overstated. It is some of the best ice cream I've ever had!

*It seems like 1/3 of Paris must be closed at all times for renovation: Les Halles, Berthillon, the Picasso Museum. I think they do it on purpose to force you to come back multiple times in order to see and do everything you want to see and do.

Paris: Cluny Museum

The Cluny Museum is a fantastic repository of medieval artifacts that was built on top of the ruins of a Roman bath from the 3rd century. It is most famous for a tapestry series called The Lady and the Unicorn, but my favorite pieces were the gold works and the stained glass. Stained glass (although common in Paris) never gets old to me. And to see it up close and be able to take in all the details is really special, since usually stained glass is placed up high in lofty cathedrals. A few other fun things to note: the original heads of the kings of Judea on the front of Notre Dame can be found here. During the French Revolution, the people mistakenly believed the carvings were the kings of France. So the poor kings of Judea were beheaded just like Louie XVI. The heads were eventually recovered, preserved here, and replaced on the Notre Dame by replicas. Also, be sure not to miss the "frigidarium," one of the rooms of the original Roman baths that has been subsumed into the museum. There's nothing quite like wandering through a museum only to find yourself in a room that itself is almost 2000 years old.

Paris: Lover's Lock Bridge

My brother and I stumbled this bridge (the Petit Pont de l’Archevêché just east of Notre Dame) and stopped for a moment to figure out why there were so many locks on it. It has something to do with love and eternity and what not. The French hate it. They think it's tantamount to graffiti (kind of a funny position to take considering how much graffiti is left uncleaned all over the city), but we thought it was an amusing distraction. And it's certainly keeping the French lock companies in business.

Paris: Notre Dame Cathedral and Bell Tower

We tackled Notre Dame on our 2nd full day. If I had it to do over again, here's what I'd do the second time around:

• The lines can be long (although, now that I have gone to Versailles, I will say every other line in France pales in comparison) but if you time it right, it's not so bad. So go right when it opens or after 4 pm. We got in line for the tower (called a "tour" in French, which is kind of confusing for those of us--i.e. me--who don't speak French and thought this was an actual tour of the tower) at 4 pm, and it took about 50 minutes to actually go up.
• There's no cutting to the front of the line with the museum pass here! And if you don't have a museum pass, then you better have exact change. Notre Dame does not mess around.
• The cathedral itself is free and is open later than the tower. So save that for after. Plus, Notre Dame still holds daily mass. So if you go later, you might be lucky like us and catch one. It's wonderful to see a piece of history still in use like the Notre Dame is.

PS: If you are wondering about the wicker basket hut, they are sprinkled throughout the gardens surrounding the cathedral, and I couldn't resist getting a picture in one.

PPS: The last two pictures are courtesy of my little brother. Quite the photographer, right?!

So I Discovered Lillet

Guys, I discovered Lillet (lee-lay). OK technically I'd read about it before and seen it in Whole Foods. But I'd never bought it because it was a bit pricey and I was a bit broke. But it's cheaper in Paris, so I have thus far splurged on 2 bottles. Now normally I don't go for sweet wines, but for some reason, I love this one. It's like the white wine version of a good port. My brother and I have been drinking it as we watch the BBC's new Sherlock series at night, and it might be one of the best ways you could ever spend your summer evenings.

Paris: Promenade Plantee and Les Puces

We have done so much already. I want to tell you all about it, but to be honest, it's kind of exhausting just trying to remember it all. One of the first things we did, though, was visit Paris's version of the High Line Park--a raised train track converted into a lovely place to stroll or go for a jog--called Promenade Plantee. It's funny how New York and Paris can make parks based on the same idea, but then they turn out so differently. Later that day we biked all the way up to Cligancourt and went to the Les Puces (flea market), which was supposed to be renowned for its antiques. Either we went on a bad day, or Les Puces is falling on hard times because unfortunately most of what we saw were vendors selling cheap clothes and electronics. However, the few antique sellers that were open had some pretty amazing stuff. I went home with 2 beautiful old plates. And if I'd had hundreds of euros to blow, I would have gone home with that ivory narwhal too!