Paris Day 6

The day dawned chilly and somewhat dark. Jim and I lost ourselves along Blvd Voltaire on the way to Place de la Bastille. We had coffee at Cafe de la Bastille, whose menu was significantly cheaper than most others we had seen.

La Bastille itself is in the centre of a roundabout, and marks the place where a huge prison used to be. As it was quite cold, we were in a hurry to keep the blood moving. Partway down Rue Henry IV, we were both like, "Oh no, we totally forgot to take a picture of it." So we touristically stopped in the middle of a moderately bustly sidewalk, turned around, snapped a photo, and carried on our merry way.

We continued to stroll down Henry IV and found a pretty park at Pont Sulley. Spent the afternoon strolling along the Seine shopping for art and kitschy gifts.

We lunched at Cafe des Beaux Artes, then wandered back to homebase through Ville St Paul wherein there was a nicely sized english bookstore run by an expat woman from Vancouver. She had named the store "The Red Wheelbarrow" in celebration of the poem by William Carlos Williams.
The vibe of this whole area of town is reminiscent of Leslieville, or Queen West (East of Parkdale). There are lots of young families whose parents sport tongue rings and tattoos, and whose children wear organic cotton clothes created by independent local designers.

My blister is growing.

We visited the Eiffel tower at late night. Clearly Paris is the "City of Lights" for a reason.

Took a great many photos and videos of lights, landmarks, ourselves, and the gnome all having a fabulous time. I spotted a carousel across the street and got all giddy, but it had closed some hours before. So instead, Jim and I made out on a park bench beside the Seine with the Eiffel tower blinking in the background. Total stereotype honeymoon evening.