We had a late night the night before, and left Winn to sleep while we went exploring. The plan was to meet at the Eiffel Tower at 2:30, and I wanted to show Adam and Natasha as much of Paris as I could for free in between leaving at 11 and meeting my dad.

After trying to pay for metro tickets with a credit card (not allowed), and a 50 euro bill (the guy told me to get change from someone else), we had to try to find a place to get change for the 50 euros. Finally, I convinced a pizza guy to give me all of his cash (I think I left him with a 5 euro bill haha) and we had change and could finally buy metro tickets and be on our merry way!

First stop: Fontaine St. Michel. This is one of my favorite spots in the city and in a great area.

From there we explored the St. Michel area on our way to Notre Dame. I got to finally see the inside of Shakespeare and Co. bookstore which was awesome but just insanely crowded so I didn't have much time to browse for books. But it was exactly what you would expect from a quirky little bookstore in a movie in which the characters from books come to life. Just so neat.

The line for Notre Dame was too long so we walked around the outside of it (we found le Kilmoetre Zéro!) and then went west up the Seine taking in the sights and enjoying the grey drizzle. :)

Le pont des arts (my favorite bridge in Paris with this cool custom of hanging locks on the fence and throwing the key into the Seine); le Louvre (at least the outside of it); l'assemblée nationale; la grand palais; a public toilet, which are becoming more and more common; et la tour Eiffel. When Winn finally met up with us, we had decided the line for the Eiffel Tower was just too long and that we should come back on a weekday, so instead, we went and explored les égouts de Paris (the sewers) which were fascinating if stinky.

After the sewers, some metroing, a crèpe and relaxing, we met up with our friend Michael at his favorite bar in the Bastille area, le Lèche-vin, a chill, locals bar filled with more Catholic imagery than I think any church would even find decent and whose bathroom could really use some renovation (it's just a hole in the ground and the walls are covered in porn). The juxtaposition between the bar and its bathroom could lead to some interesting metaphorical implications... ;-)

Overall, it was a great day. We got to see a lot of the city and experience a bit of the locals scene which is always on our list of todos when we go to a foreign city.