Tripping::::again

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Bonjour .... At last count we have visited 9 museums and 6 churches in the few days we have been here. I hit church #6 today ... Brenda says that as long as the number of museums is greater than the number of churches; she won't toss me into the Seine... I am safe so far but there is one more day to go so I may have to do some swimming before we leave!

I probably should not mention this, but I am going to do so anyway .... you remember that we tripped over the Louvre a few days ago? Well, today we lost the Eiffel Tower. Don't ask us how it happened; it just did. We do not even know know we managed to lose the largest landmark in the country since we have seen it every day and have photographed it from multiple angles. But the day was foggy and we actually wondered if it was really _that_ foggy! Turns out that elves had not moved it during the night but that we had imbibed insufficient amounts of caffeine for early morning navigation towards the city's largest building. We should not be surprised, though; the internet cafe we had hunted for until my feet hated me turned out to be 1.5 blocks from the hotel...we keep forgetting that streets run in two directions and have two sides. And I keep coming out of buildings and turning left instead of right (a problem similar to one I had in Siena).

After all that, we took lots of photos of the Tower but did not take the elevator up: it was too cold and too foggy to make the adventure worth the wait. The biggest excitement was watching the gendarmarie take down one of the zillion gypsies, one who had gone past harassing people for money and had stolen a purse. He came flying past us so fast that I hollered "Thief!" almost automatically. Cops came out of nowhere and that guy was flat on the ground beneath an officer before he knew quite what had hit him. We chose not to go to the Arc de Triomphe because of the weather... maybe tomorrow. But, if we don't get there, we have seen a jillion other things and won't feel cheated.


We have found incredible pastries, including one I (Margo) had today called a 'religieuse', a cream puff filled with chocolate ganache and topped with coffee flavoured cream. Brenda dove into some delicacies called 'millefieulles' that look spectacular! We got lost again trying to find the bookstore that was only 3 blocks away....that having to cross the street thing is most disconcerting!

Yes, folks, there are five... 5 ..... university degrees in these brains but, when it comes to directions (and these dratted French keyboards) we can get lost in 5 seconds flat!!!

Nevertheless, we have negotiated our way to those 9 museums and 6 churches very nicely, all on foot. We may be the only tourists in the city who can trip over the Louvre and lose the Eiffel Tower but we are also the only ones who have seen it all without ever stepping onto a bus or train.

BTW, I have 2 pairs of shoes from Paris.

Maybe more tomorrow but it is our last day and we still have a great deal of shopping to do as well as a dinner reservation at the place our friend, Heather, recommended. Saturday eve we'll be back in Canada after a grand adventure and lots of fun and calories....off to get wine now!

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