I am so "punny"! My title makes me giggle more than is appropriate for a woman of my age. But I don't care.

Sleeping in this morning was wonderful. I enjoyed it immensely. After breakfast Nate, Caroline and I made a trek out to the Moulin Rogue. I know, I know...not the most seemly of places to visit...but I really liked the movie and felt obligated to go see the place in person ;) I mean, it wasn't like we went to purchase tickets (which would have been a minimum of €180 each...not that we checked...*ahem*) It is certainly not as artistically appealing and inviting as its Hollywood, glamorized counterpart. Seriously. Where was the giant elephant?! But it was still rather amusing to visit. We were not there very long...I mean...it is in the red-light district. The shops around it were not exactly full of the kind of souvenirs I was looking for...haha! It felt fine in the daylight but there is no way I would even be tempted to go there at night (now...had there actually been a giant elephant that lit up in the dark...).

We then went looking for Nate's stop of choice: 59 Rivoli: The After-squat. This is a place where artists used to squat and it then got turned into a bunch of contemporary art studios. The artists open all their studios to the public (for free) six days a week. Pretty sweet but first of all, we actually got the address wrong and thought it was 54 Rivoli...which you would think wouldn't make that much of a difference but because of Paris' numbering system it was off by almost four blocks! It was okay though because on the walk back (we had actually passed right by it when we got off the metro without knowing it and then had to come all the way back once we realized our mistake) we got really good chicken curry sandwiches and chocolate eclairs for lunch. The studios were pretty neat to look around but contemporary art is pretty edgy so...I saw some things I wish I hadn't. I might need to Purell my eyes when I get back to the states. For the most part though, I enjoyed it.

We had one museum visit today at the Musee d'Orsay. There were SO many big name artists in there it was kind of amazing: Degas, Ingres, Gauguin, Courbet, etc. my favorite though was Van Gogh. His works are stunning in person. To see the thickness of the paint is something else. It adds a depth and personality and mood to the image that simply cannot be replicated. I stood in front of his stuff for quite awhile just taking it all in.

Following the museum, Nate, Caroline and I teamed up again for an evening stroll. We walked along the river and enjoyed the amazing sky that Paris provided us with tonight. There were some darker storm clouds in front of the slowly lowering sun which scattered the light rays in really pretty and interesting patterns. To see the Seine, the Eiffel Tower and the Paris skyline under that particular lighting arrangement was wonderful. Eventually we made it to Laduree, a shop world-famous for their macaroons (supposedly their founder invented the dessert). There was quite a line for the shop and in order to break it up and prevent mass chaos they only let a certain number of people through the door at a time. It took us about 30 minutes to get through everything but it was worth it. So many flavors! It was a bit intense trying to pick out what we wanted. Caroline and I split a box of eight so we could try multiple Flavors without spending too much money. My favorite flavor was the Ghana chocolate, closely followed by salted caramel. They were yummy but I won't necessarily seek them out again before the end of the trip. Now crepes on the other hand...

I finished off the night with a trip to the local market to pick up the same rolls, bread, cheese and meat that I got the Jensen kids last night. It seemed like such a good idea, I figured I would just use it for myself this time. One thing I noticed is that it is a lot quicker and easier to shop without four kids in tow. Suddenly my respect for mothers has shot through the roof! Maybe I should have had that experience right before Mother's Day...then I might have gotten my mom something REALLY nice ;) Sorry, Mom. Next year, maybe.