Living Parisian

    Day two started with paying to take one of those lift things that seemed like a fun idea and way to see things but it turns out it was just to get to the bottom of a flight of stairs without having to walk down them. Rookie mistake. We then took the metro to get to Saint Chapelle where we waited in line only to go through security and be pulled aside and explained to in french that we cannot bring a knife into the church. Mom frantically pulled out the baguette we were carrying around while trying to explain the reason for the knife: cutting bread. It didnt work and we werent allowed in but it sure did look pretty from the outside. We then walked over to Notre Dame which was architecturally amazing and had so much interesting history to accompany it. Although it was beautiful, I could not stop playing the movie "the hunchback of notre dame" in my mind. On our way to our next destination, we stopped in a concentration camp memorial which was designed to resemble the way it felt living in a camp: narrow hallways and lots of barbed wire gates. The Left Bank is also a place where many famous artists and writers lived back in the day. We went to the famous book store Shakespeare and Co. and I bought a childrens book about being Bob Dylan and being forever young, I thought it was cute. Mom was of course in love with the smell of old books an the idea that so many well-known people passed through the same store to read the days away. Strolling by a pretty fountain called Saint Michelle, there were women laying the street with signs around them about how much easier it is to live as a dude and how all dictators are men. Girl Power. We then found a grocery store to buy the fixings for a river side picnic. Cheese, Wine, Bread, Chocolate, Wine. We ate by the oldest river in Paris known as Point Nueff. 
      After lunch we walked to the Louvre museum and learning from our previous mistake, we stashed the knife behind some statue. Before exploring the famous artwork kept in the Louvre, it was imperative that I pee. The line however for the bathroom was insane and at least 30 minutes of wait time. Mom doesnt like to have to wait to do things like use the restroom, rightfully so, so she opted for the mens room. This however is unacceptable by the museum staff and a woman told mom not to go in there, so naturally mom started running. She ran into the mens stall and the museum lady forced the stall back open but mom just slammed it back in her face. Basically, do not mess with a grown woman who needs to pee. Meanwhile, I am still waiting in the massive line. Throughout the Louvre we saw things like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and the greek statue of a headless woman with wings. After our tour of the Louvre and getting our knife, we walked through the Tuileries Garden during the hour in which the sunlight is the prettiest. I was awestruck by the amount of beauty that was surrounding me and I even saw a bride and groom walk though the gardens with nothing more than their digital camera to take pictures of themselves. We then arrived at Rue Champs de Elysees which turned out to be the final stretch of the Tour de France so it was covered in chairs. This is the street leading up to the Arc de Triomphe so it was full of swanky restaurants and fun shopping. It also had a similar atmosphere to Times Square will all of the people watching, bright lights and "trying to make it as a break dancer" street performers. We watch the sun go down over the Arc de Triomphe and by the time we got up to it, the staircase to climb up to the top was closed. We decided we wanted to see it lit up so we had to wait a while and we were hungry, every place to eat around us was too expensive so we settled for the golden arches. Whilst we thought the idea of eating Mcdonalds in front of one of Paris' most famous monuments was taboo, it turned out that the Mcdonalds we were eating at was mentioned in our tour book as the most profitable Mcdonalds in the world and very common among Parisians to eat. We saw the Arc de Triomphe light up, barely, and started our quest home. In case you havent gathered by now, this was the longest day of my life and mom was practically crippled by the end. We got off at the metro station nearest to our apartment and started walking up the stairs, there was an elevator but I was like whatever lets just take the stairs. Good call Chloe. After climbing what felt like three mountains worth of stairs, we discover that everyone takes the elevator because it is 104 steps or something ridiculous to get out of the metro station. Walking home we stopped by Picasso's studio where he made most of his masterpieces, and then we snuggled into his apartment for the night. I walked about 17,000 miles but the things that I saw were pretty incredible.