Paris--day 2... will it ever stop raining?

So today started with a trip to Starbucks...yes, I know, not very Parisian, but it is one of the few places where I could get free wifi access outside of the apartment to check emails, facebook, post pictures, etc.  Plus I needed something for breakfast.  You had to provide a lot of information to get to the free wifi (name, address, first born...) but it gave me a chance to eat and catch up on things.  Plus today was very on-again, off-again with the rain, so it was drizzling a little bit so I was waiting it out to get a little nicer.

Once I started out the first thing I did was head to Sacre Coeur.  This is in the northern section of Paris and it sits at the top of a hill.  It's a really touristy area, but very photogenic.

Tourists, tourists everywhere (including me)

The view of Paris from Sacre Coeur 

On the way to Sacre Coeur I saw ton of interesting, quirky graffiti.  On the whole there was so much interesting street art.  It's not just people tagging their name or words like you often see in the US.  There is a lot of artistry in the graffiti.  Or I guess I should say a different kind of artistry that really appeals to me.  ON the other hand, I don't spend nearly as much time walking the streets of New York, so who knows what I am missing.  I know that I love walking in Paris.  It seems a shame to ever take the subway unless you are going some place very far from where you currently are.  It's just such a beautiful city.

It started drizzling again when I got to the top of the hill.  And then I saw this guy!!  He was in the exact same spot the last time Gus and I came to visit.  He makes these little dog keychains out wire and fuzzy piping.  He didn't want people taking video so I just took this photograph of him (and bought a little dog of course).

Sacre Coeur

Once you go around Sacre Coeur you will see the Place du Tertre which is where all of the artists are gathered and selling their art.  Some of it is really amazing.  There are also a lot of the typical caricature artists there making sketches of the tourists.  I wish the art weren't so expensive--relatively speaking of course.  Most if it is pretty standard or cheap for original art work, I would guess.

I walked around the area looking for pictures to take.  It can be pretty challenging to get the kinds of pictures I like (without strangers in them) because there are ALWAYS people walking into your picture frame.  That is definitely the best part of having a digital camera.  You don't have to worry about losing a frame because some dingbell walked right into your shot at the last second.  You can just delete it and keeping going.  But you do sometimes have to be patient about getting the picture you want.  I did still end up taking a ton of pictures with my phone because those could more immediately be uploaded to Facebook or instagram.

It started raining pretty heavily while I was walking around Place du Tertre, so I decided to have lunch at one of the cafes.  The central square is surrounded by cafes and each of those cafes has a section of covered outdoor seating in the middle of the square (which the artists encircle).  I managed to kill some time and get some reading done until the rain subsided... (I was reading Neither Here Nor There, by Bill Bryson).

Once it was safe to walk around again I headed back towards the center of Paris to walk the Champs-Elysees.  I started at the Tuileries Gardens.  The Tuileries are right next to the Louvre and isn't really a garden as much as it is a large park.

The last time I was here, there were a couple dozen cymbals sticking out of the water like metallic water lilies

From the Tuileries I walked up the Champs-Elysees with these beautiful sights all around me.

The Champs-Elysees is a huge boulevard with shops and restaurants lining the street.  There are fancy stores and cheap touristy places, nice restaurants with outdoor seating next to the French equivalent of McDonald's.  I always get the feeling that in some previous time this street was much more fashionable.  But I feel like it has succumbed a little to the Disneyfication that has also happened in Time Square.  It feels a little less authentic than it should.  BUT, one of my favorite stores is on this street (I think it also has another location in Paris, and it also has a location in Barcelona) FNAC.  It's like a reverse Barnes & Noble.  Where B & N focuses mainly on books and has a little bit of multimedia, FNAC is mostly multimedia with a smattering of books.  I don't know why, but I always have to go to a FNAC when I am in Paris.  I feel like I will discover something new there.  Whether it is a new band, or a new graphic novel.  I always get excited by the thought of FNAC.

Store that sells multimedia and books.  I HAVE to stop in here every trip.

Finally I ended up at the Arc de Triomphe.  It is in the center of an insane traffic circle known as L'Etoile, where like 12 streets converge.  They had to build an underground passage from the sidewalks to the Arc so that a million tourists weren't getting killed every year trying to cross the street. Underneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Solider and an eternal flame.  You can also go to the top of the Arc, which I have never done.

Arc de Triomphe

After the Arc I made my way to the Eiffel Tower.  I'm pretty sure that I have been to the Eiffel Tower on every visit and have gone up at least once, but I couldn't not go and take pictures with my new camera and just see it again.  It's such an iconic part of the image of Paris.  It's hard to believe that when it was being built there were people that hated it and thought it was an eyesore.

Duh, the Eiffel Tower, obviously!

                                           

Right next to the tower there was an outdoor crafts market happening.  And street performers (as there are at every tourist spot I think).  

So I took some pictures of the tower (and of course had some cotton candy.  In French it is known as a "barbe a papa)

and then as I was walking back decided to stop by Notre Dame and take some night photos.

The Seine at night.  

Notre Dame at night.

It was an amazingly long day, but when you've only got 4 days to see Paris, you've got to make shit count.  Even though I have visited this city plenty of times, there is still always something new to see and I always want to visit the old classics.  It's just so friggin' beautiful.  

Walking to the Eiffel Tower

Random alley on the way back to the apartment after a long day.