Arriving in Paris from the depths of the metro made me feel like a child who has just laid eyes on her first pony (wrapped in a big red bow) after the blindfold has been pulled away. We came up the stairs facing the Arc de Triomphe, which stands boldly at the center of the biggest roundabout in Europe. This arch is a monument to the Grande Armee (the name of France's army at the time) by order of Napoleon. We went under the roundabout to the arch via the tunnel walkway for pedestrians (because you'd be an idiot to cross the eight lanes of swirrling traffic) and came up underneath the towering monument. After taking some pictures and marveling at its sheer size we noticed a group of Americans running across the roundabout traffic, being honked at left and right and nearly being run over. They got across and seemed happy for their survivial and also confused why everyone was gawking at them. Duh...because you are idiots. How do they think everyone else got over here? The police came over and informed them sternly that it is illegal to walk across and told them where the tunnel was. After, we walked down the famous street that stretches away from the arch called Champs-Elysees. We grabbed some sandwiches and marveled at all the lovely shops and buildings along the way.

The next four days we spent in Paris were a blurr and I couldn't attempt to tell you in what order we saw things. I took to planning our Paris visit with great care and enthusiasm. My little 'Paris Encounter' book was tabbed with about 40 different things to see and do. The map was marked with where to go and on what days and which metro stations were closest. Of course, nearly all of this planning was useless once we hit the city and were distracted--all too often--from our plan.

We saw (in no particular order) the Sacre Couer (the marvelous basilica with views of the entire city from white marble stairs), the Eiffel Tower (both day and night), The Louvre pyramid (we didn't tackle the museum), the Perfume Museum (where I learned that you should never keep perfume in the bathroom if it's in anything but a stainless steel bottle), a famous mustard shop, the Promenade Plantee (an elevated walkway lined with greenery and flowers), Notre Dame, Berthillon Ice Cream (the oldest and most famous ice cream shop in Paris), Pont Neuf (a lovely bridge over the Seine River), the largest Flea Market in Europe (where I bought a vintage clutch!), the Sewer Museum (complete with pungent odors due to its being IN the sewer system), Moulin Rouge (just from the outside), and a number of parks, plazas, squares, markets and streets. We wandered around every neighborhood and had some random cultural encounters.

Once, after walking to the largest square in Paris called Place de la Concorde, we noticed some large vans with photography equipment nearby. We stayed to see what was going on. We happened to be in the middle of two different fashion photo shoots! This was a highlight for me and we sat and watched for a while. One girl was decked out in a crazy glittery bodice and leotard with knee-high lace-up boots and oversized sunglasses. We chatted with some of the staff involved in the shoot while the girl posed on a motorcycle and learned that it was for the fashion magazine in the Wall Street Journal. The other girl was in a grunge-like outfit with leather boots, jeans and a leather jacket. She had dramatic makeup and was posing up against a street lamp with a great background of gold-tipped gates. It was very fun to watch Paris's fashion life playing out in front of us!

Another lucky moment was on the steps of the Sacre Coeur (the city's landmark basilica). Steve and I were enjoying the expansive views of Paris below while he told me about this guy who is famous and has videos on YouTube. Apparently he is incredible at juggling soccer balls and does so in front of these very steps on a raised pillar and often climbs up the lamp post to do more tricks. Steve was going on about this guy and how it would be so cool to see that when I noticed a very athletic black man at the base of the stairs across the road. He was behind a fence but many people were near him. Then I noticed the poster on the fence and realized this was the guy! I pointed and said, "do you mean that guy?" Steve exclaimed enthusiastically that it was him and we were both hoping he hadn't just finished a show. He started putting on layers and his jacket and we slumped. Just when we thought he would start heading down the street, he jumped up on the pillar and everyone cheered! He began his show by juggling the ball with his feet and doing some tricks. Slowly he took more and more layers off, never stopping juggling and eventually was shirtless and in sport pants when he scaled the post like a monkey (still juggling) and did some crazy stunts. This was so fun to watch and everyone took pictures and gave him a hatful of money afterward. The only way to describe the experience is to say it was "so cool." Because it was.

Our not visiting the Louvre might be odd to some, but we just found the whole thing (also based on what some Parisians told us) overwhelming. Honestly, other than the Mona Lisa (which is just a painting of a lady in my non-art history mind), I didn't know what I wanted to see. The glass pyramid entrance was the part I was really interested in. We did go into the lobby through that entrance and wandered around the bookstore for a long time, but otherwise we didn't see any art. The two museums we did see were very interesting and completely opposite of one another: The Perfume Museum and the Sewer Museum.

We went into the Perfume Museum and had a free tour. We learned about the whole process and saw some very ornate bottles, some of which belonged to Paris's elite and famous. I learned that you should never store glass perfume bottles in your bathroom because the condensation and steam from showering ruins the essential oils that make the scents. We also learned that there are four levels of fragrance strength (I only knew of two). Parfum, Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette and Eau de Cologne. The best and strongest is Parfum, and each level reduces in strength as you go. The museum was part of the Fragonard company and at the end of our tour we were allowed to smell anything we wanted and of course, buy perfume.

The Sewer Museum was very interesting but smelled horrible...like poo. We took the self-guided tour through some winding tunnels that had information posted and equipment to see. We saw unfiltered and filtered rivers flowing below the city and learned a lot about Paris's sewer system through the ages. I held my nose the whole time but now I know that they use GIGANTIC solid spheres to clean the tunnels of sand and other settled items. They simply lower it down into the sewer and let it go. The current takes it down and the sand and settled grime are pushed along but the water passes by the small space between the sphere and the walls. This process has been used for a long time and is still used today. Another interesting fact about Paris is that they have a 24-hour on-call Sewer Service that will send someone out to fetch your lost keys or necklace if you have dropped it through a drain! They actually open it up and trudge through the crap to find your lost item. This is crazy to me but I guess it's a highly used service.

Being in the most romantic city in the world (or is that Venice?) had little to do with our excursions. We sat in several parks and ate baguette with cheese and olives but I didn't necessarily feel lightheaded or swoony. Steve and I enjoyed it blissfully nonetheless and spent those four days filling our appetites with culture, architecture and great food. The only two things we didn't see that we had wanted to were the Dali Exhibit and the Catacombs. But as far as I can tell, this magnificent bustling city of lights and love will not be going anywhere in my lifetime and I fully intend on returning someday.