bonjour.

bonjour from paris.
it's day 3 here and we're already exhausted (but in a good way).
paris is much bigger than i thought it would be,
way more diverse than i thought it would be,
way dirtier than i thought it would be.
but it is lovely and charming and beautiful.

the weather has been perfect, though almost a bit too warm!
the first day here was a blur -- walked around our arrondisement (district), ate crepes, and tried our best to stay up late to help the jet lag.

the second day was filled with lots of walking and trips on the metro.
margaux has proven to be quite the map/direction expert.
we explored numerous areas, from the jardin de luxembourg to the sorbonne to the ile st. louis and the eiffel tower.
margaux even convinced me to take a cruise along the seine -- i really didn't want to, it seemed too touristy to me -- but it turned out to be wonderful.
there were people all along the river, enjoying each other's company, a bottle of wine, the weather...
the sights and sounds, from the louvre to notre dame, were amazing.

dinner was at a hip cafe where all the "cool kids" seemed to be hanging out. our waitress spoke english and for dessert brought us an entire big bowl of chocolate mousse (almost like a pudding) with the instructions to take as much of it as we wanted and if we finished it, we could have more (the bowl was HUGE).
i think we managed to spoon out 3 scoops.

today, we went to check out the flea market, but quickly realized it wasn't the one we had in mind. it was ghetto and sketchy and a side of paris i'd like to soon forget.
there are other flea markets around, we just picked the wrong one.
the highlight of the day was montmarte -- really beautiful and full of life.
lots of people, artists, musicians, cool stores, cafe's and patisseries.

dinner tonight was at a place not too far from our hotel (which, by the way, is nice, but tiny -- it's hard not to bang your elbows against the walls in the bathroom).
the crowd was how i always pictured paris -- very stylish, lots of smoking and red wine, full of character and charm...

i think that's it for now.
lots more planned for the next couple of days and then it's off to italy.
i have to leave you with one quick funny story...
on the first day, we went to a market to get some water and after margaux finished paying, the lady said, "merci," to which margaux replied, "bonjour."
of course she meant to say "merci" back.
thank you! hello!
good times.

a few snapshots...