Paris is so fricking beautiful! Everywhere I go I see amazing buildings topped with ancient chimneys, their balconies furnished with flowers. Sometimes these old fashioned buildings are right next to equally beautiful modern architecture, but usually they stick with the classic.

We've walked so much, as we always do, and every neighborhood we've seen is beautiful and interesting. We've trekked all along the Seine River: on the Ile de la Cite with its bigger-than-life Notre Dame; down to the Eiffel Tower; stopping along the way at the Musee D'Orsay full of all my favorite artists; and the Musee Egouts (down in the mysterious Sewer Systems). We've wandered around the Latin Quarter a few times so as not to miss an inch of the bookstores and cafes on Saint Germaine Blvd, while also catching a glimpse of the Luxemborg Gardens, and Sorbonne University. We've hiked from the Montparnasse Cemetary, and the Catacombes lined with the bones of the unnamed dead up to the street artists near the Sacre Coeur cathedral in the charming neighborhood of Montmartre. Tomorrow it's off to the east side for the Picasso Museum and the Saturday arts & crafts market.

Who knew Paris had so much to offer?? Well, a lot of people, I guess. I'm just surprised because my memory of the city comes from the point of view of a spoiled 18 year old from Newton, Massachusetts. This girl (she seems so foreign to me now) has just graduated high school and her mother has offered to take her to Europe to celebrate. Of course, the more the mother raves about Paris, the less the girl cares--you know you were the same way at that age. So, all that to say, my memory of Paris is faded by the smog of trying to be cool, and Mom was right after all. Who knew?