Wednesday and Thursday

Okay, to catch up...on Wednesday we waited in line for over an hour to ascend to the top of Notre Dame. Despite the cold, it was great fun. The view is spectacular and it continues to be exciting to see Paris from high up because it allows us to identify all the new areas we have explored and all the new places we have visited. We also delved into the crypt below Notre Dame and got to explore historical relics from the earliest inhabitants of the Ile de la Cite.

Afterwards we wandered around some areas where we had not yet been, window shopping and eating a ridiculously large meal. We found a shopping area that clearly specializes in hobbies like Philately. It seemed like a collector's dream come true.

Thursday began with a walk around the Marais district. Our intention was to see the Musee Picasso, but unfortunately it is closed for renovations until 2012. Our other destination was the Musee Carnavalet. It is a museum dedicated to the history of the city of Paris. We saw Napoleon's cradle, a replica of the guillotine that took off Louis XVI's head and a piece of the Bastille. They also had numerous rooms set up as they would have been during particular times in history. We got to see a replica of Marcel Proust's bedroom and some furniture used by Marie Antoinette.

After the museum we stopped by the plaza in front of Centre Pompidou for a snack. Emma had a fresh, hot crepe filled with Nutella and bananas. C'est magnificent. We watched a man produce enormous bubbles for the delight of a crowd of children, a marionette show, a few musicians and a magician all perform while we ate.

Topping off the afternoon was a trip to the open-air market on our street. We indulged in tons of fruit, an entire kilo of fresh peas, homemade dolmadas and a chocolate rooster, just to name a few. This turned into a quiet night at home with a gourmet meal, including roast chicken and potatoes with herbs and another ridiculous amount of strawberries and raspberries. We could probably never wander more than a block from the apartment and still eat like royalty and have a fabulous time. We absolutely love this city.