Connaisaurus Rex

June 13 ‐ Paris

Number of jumping pictures: 2

This morning we woke up at around 10:30 a.m. and decided to make brunch. While Ida showered, I started the pasta. My plan was to have farfalle pasta with our recently purchased par-baked bread. However, as we soon discovered, it was impossible to bake the bread- we have no oven! Only a microwave pretending to be an oven- it let us choose the time and temperature, so at first we thought it was just a funky-looking oven (because it seems like all French appliances are funky-looking). The bread turned out to be inedible! 🙁

Fortunately, the rest of the meal was fabulous (And we made it! In our apartment!). I felt kind of grown-up. We put all these seasonings- tarragon, garlic, dill- in a sautee of mushrooms and onions (and plenty of EVOO!) to mix with the pasta. Add a pinch (or two…) of gray salt, and Voila!

After lunch, we set out for Rue Monge to see Arenes de Lutece, the ruins of an ancient Roman arena that have been turned into a park.

I was excited because Roman history is one of the few types of history I actually know anything about.

 

As we walked through the park, I appreciated the juxtaposition of old and new.  As screaming children climbed onto the ancient stonework without a care in the world,

old men on the field laughed as they played Bocce Ball (in fact, we counted over six games being played simultaneously- our parents would be so proud!).

 

Although this park did have a few tourists scattered about, it was obviously a local treasure. It was nice to just sit back and watch authentic Parisian life happen around us.

Being surrounded by all this beauty made Ida and I seriously contemplate our lives!

 

After spending some time at the arena, we decided to have an early dinner at Cafe du Marche, a delicious, relatively cheap cafe on Rue Cler. I got the rigatoni a la creme de truffe, while Ida had the steak tartar, which came with a salad and potatoes.

 

The wine was the best so far- a pink wine called Cotes de Provence “Bertrand”.

We decided that we would have to hunt down more of this wine when we both become connaiseurs.

Then on to our next adventure: the Eiffel Tower!

It was kind of like the London Eye- kind of cool but mostly just something we could not go home without accomplishing. I decided to climb the stairs to the top, but Ida refused. It actually wasn’t as bad as I imagined, and as I walked, I could enjoy the beautiful architecture (which really made the hike worth it).

It was kind of rainy and foggy, which meant that although the lines were shorter and each level less crowded, the view was also less spectacular than we expected. Still pretty, though!

On the second level, I witnessed some of the magic and romance of Paris. A couple was hugging, and I thought they looked kind of cute together. But suddenly, the man knelt down and held the woman’s hand. I was witnessing their engagement! They both started crying… heck, I was almost tearing up, it was so beautiful!

Finally, Ida and I both reached the top, which means we are officially French!

We were both very tired from our long day, and that’s when things got a bit silly…

 

We stayed at the top for a while until it started to get dark. Then we both went down the stairs so Ida could enjoy that gorgeous architecture!

At night the tower lit up, illuminating the beautiful patterns and shadows the metal made!

Even cooler than climbing it, though, was seeing the entire thing at dark! The view of the Eiffel Tower at night is so gorgeous!

We walked directly underneath it, which was kind of cool- I had never seen it like from that angle!

Ida and I were so tired that we just sat on the Champ de Mars and rested while we looked on in awe.

Right when we were leaving to go home at 11 p.m., the light show started! We missed it before because we were still walking downstairs, but apparently at night they flash the lights on the tower every hour on the hour.

Love from Paris!

-Zelda