Week at a glance

So this was my last full week in Paris until I take off for Portugal/Spain on Thursday for about 10 days and I wanted to make the best of it.

I had a few recommendations of places to explore, but unfortunately, as the weather did not comply, I only did a little bit of exploration outdoors. Things I did this week:

1) Parc des Buttes Chaumont - Beautiful little park with a temple/oracle/rotunda in the center. Very nice and quite place to explore if you want to get away from the big city feel. Also, on a clear day, the view from the temple is absolutely amazing! One thing though to mention, if you take the metro to Buttes Chaumont, when you get off the train, there are two "sortie" signs, one points to stairs and the other to an elevator. Take the elevator! I looked at the sign and figured that a few steps wouldn't kill me and I wasn't about to go and take a smelly and tiny elevator up, what, a floor or two? I mean come on, I climb to my 5th floor walk-up every day (sometimes 3 times a day!). Yeah, so in my wisdom, I took the stairs, and I felt like I must have climbed to the 6th or 7th floor. In fact, from the bottom, I couldn't even see the end!! Take the elevator people.

2) Louvre - I bought my carte jeune which, for 30 euros, allows me entry to the Louvre, the temporary exhibits, allows me to bring a guest twice a week during special evening hours and also allows me to skip the lines for the next year. A good deal, methinks. I began my exploration by going to see the Richelieu wing (beautiful paintings as well as the apartments) and then checking in on the Mona Lisa for a quick minute. I think I might go back this Wednesday before heading on "vacation".

3) I got "lost" in the Marais and found a lot of little side streets with cute little shops and finally made it to Place des Vosges. Luckily, while it was super cold on this day, it was at least sunny!
At Place des Vosges, I saw the cutest little redheaded boy, who was a complete troublemaker - then again what redhead isn't? This kid stole a scooter from his big brother, attempted to steal a ball from a kid that was younger than him and then proceeded to dig a hole in the dirt (all this in the 10 minutes or so that I stalked him with my camera). Ahh, a kid after my own heart :) I think I could have passed him off as my own if I had stolen him!

Oh and for this week, and this week only, I will not be commenting on my annoyance at having a couple pretty much making out on top of me in the metro and I will chalk it up to Valentine's Day.

That's about it, on top of my near daily walks to the Notre Dame area. I have a lot more to explore though and I will get back down to business upon my return. March promises a visit to the Loire Valley castles, maybe (hopefully) Mont St. Michel and of course, as a good Jew, who can forget all the churches in Paris!