France Day 7 - City of Love?

We got out of the subway somewhere and had lunch at a McDonald’s that was conveniently close. Just getting out of the subway was a challenge since it took at least 5 minutes to find the sign for the exit we wanted, and then we followed the signs through a labyrinth of underground passages that twisted and turned and went up and down and even platforms of other trains before finally emerging at street level. Maybe I just wasn’t reading it right.

We walked for a long time in search of Tumbleweed Toy Store (google it if you don’t know what it is). On the way, we stopped at a small cathedral for a break, as well as H&M and GAP for me to browse while my dad was taking pictures on the street.

Macaroons and other confectionery!

macaroooooons <3

Froggy-looking car

the Cathedral

Mmm, cake shop

Toy Store

I got two of these [Himitsu Bako]

A store that sells foie gras and cool stuff like that

graffiti on a bridge

After the toy store, we walked down to the river and saw the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. We didn’t go inside, though, since there was a line-up that filled the whole square outside just to get to the entrance. From down below, we saw multitudes of people milling around on the terraces and towers. There were some street performers doing tricks with glass orbs, several of them with the same acts and music but standing in different spots. We even saw one practicing on the subway on our way back at night.

The garden behind
the Cathedral

One of the front doors
of the Cathedral

Stands on the street selling
ancient books

The entrance to the subway looks like the
entrance to a haunted house or scary ride

"Pokemon are everywhere"!!?

We had dinner in the Latin Quarter, where the narrow streets were lined with small restaurants that had people standing at the door trying to entice tourists. We ventured into a small dark restaurant that served various cheese dishes including fondue. I tried something cool called raclette, in which cheese is melted and then poured onto various cold meats and small potatoes.

After dinner we got back on the subway and went to see the Eiffel Tower because, after all, you can’t come to Paris and not see that. It was already dark by then, and we followed the tourists and the lights of the tower to its base. A lot of people who looked like they might be immigrants of African ethnicity were hawking little Eiffel tower souvenirs on little blankets laid out with trinkets, or walking around shaking large bunches of metal Towers. The Tower itself was lit up in an orange-yellow outline, and we walked under it to the other side where we could take pictures from further away. We were there just in time, since the lady at the toy store had told us that at 8, 9, and 10pm on the hour, the tower has a special light display for a few minutes. It was just white lights flashing that made it look like it was sparkling, like something out of a manga, but that’s alright it was slightly exciting.

As we were leaving, we saw a police cruiser pulling in near the base of the tower, and then some unknown signal must have gone out because all the hawkers were suddenly packing up and running away at full speed, hollering for each other to go faster and catcalling in the darkness. That might have been slightly more exciting.