Paris - Day Two

Oh goodness. The problem with a big night is the next morning becomes a write off. We drag our sorry selves through the works around nine, shove some food and coffee down our throats, then hop on the tube for one of the rougher rides of our trip. I think we're both green by the time we get off the second train. Back to breakfast, I discover that the closest thing to a pie that I have eaten since NZ - it's a baguette filled with mince, tomato, and cheese. It's served hot and I think that I may have fallen in love with it a little, although it certainly has not replaced the pie by any stretch. Also the coffee here is pretty terrible in general - there are notable exceptions, but yeah, in general it's expensive and yuck. Gotta feed that addiction though, eh Willy.

Eventually we come face to face with that iconic glass pyramid. One problem though. The line is over an hour long. Yikes. Willy and I look at each other, I am pretty sure that at least one of us (probably me) would melt during the wait. We decide to rain check the Louvre, and head off down the river in search of Notre Dame. 

The biggest problem on this particular day (beside our desperate need to go back to bed) is that we have been so spoiled since we left Italy. There just haven't been queues in Turkey or Germany, no matter how amazing the attraction, or what time of day you arrive. In fact we've been virtually alone in some of the most fantastic places. So yeah... We had kind of forgotten how to play the game. Foolish.

At Notre Dame we are faced with another long queue - of course, but at least this one is moving quickly. We hop in line and before we know it we're being pushed inside. Now... It's a very nice church, I enjoy reading some of the history and seeing the progression of the building over the centuries, but... It doesn't come close to my experience in Venice. Not that I was expecting it to, but you know, we always live in hope. The architecture is wonderful, as is the artwork, but yes, at the end of the day it didn't stand apart from the rest. Except of course for the gargoyles, they were super cool! Took me back to a cartoon that I used to watch as a seven or eight year old which was called Gargoyles and was my favourite for a while. Had a little nostalgic moment.

A woman approached Willy outside the church, wanting him to sign a petition. We looked at each other, it didn't make sense to me (it was in English and was pretty much nonsensical) and I watched the woman closely as Willy began to sign. A second later an older French woman came past, she grabs our eye, points to the woman with the petition, and says "Pickpocket". Ah crap. Of course. At that very instant, another woman with an identical "petition" jumps me. There are now two of them and two of us. The old womans comment rings in our ears. They start demanding money. We leave quickly with all that we came with, thank goodness. That's the first time that we have (knowingly) faced that, despite having already traveled other places that are notorious for it.

We top up Willy's caffeine levels at a nice cafe, then hop on the tube. The Catacombs have a two hour (plus) long line, and quickly becomes one for our next trip. One of the markets is next on our list. We emerge from the tube to find ourselves surrounded by less fortunate Parisians and a lot of hawkers. We stick out like a sore thumb - despite this I manage lose Willy for a minute and have a minor freak out. This joins the small handful of places where I have felt unsafe. We find each other fairly quickly but I hold onto him for the rest of our visit. We make our way down the two blocks to the market, passing hawker after hawker the entire way, all selling small amounts of everything. I wonder how much of it is stolen - the more accurate quandary is probably how much of it isn't. We are virtually shoulder to shoulder with randoms the whole way. I keep a hand on my bag and take a keen interest in my surroundings. There aren't many tourists here. We sure ain't in Kansas anymore.

A short while later we arrive. It's mostly crap, but I do buy a dress and a pair of harem pants - I needed them for the ride home, not doing a second long haul flight in jeans. Hell no. A man approaches us to try and sell us an iPhone and gold chain. It's so totally not stolen. Cough. We roam for close to an hour before heading home. Our area isn't the nicest but I don't get scared there. We walk down a street that we hadn't previously explored and ended up at a cross between a restaurant, pub, and bar. We eat our dinner sitting by the window at a table with a red checkered cloth. It's an ok meal too - Willy has roast duck, and I have the salmon pasta. They come with entrees (mozzarella and tomato for me, a selection of meats for Willy) and there is so much food that we can't finish. I hate wasting food, but you certainly could not accuse them of being mean with it.

We collapse into bed around ten, almost looking forward to sitting on our butts for twenty four hours in the near future. It's been a big few weeks!