Ma petite chouchou

(Sorry for the picture overload, but these are only the ones taken by Ella)

On our first day in Paris, Ella and I walked around until our feet hurt and after a while they just turned numb. We are both adamant about trying to see as much of Paris on foot as possible, which means except for the occasional sitting break - we're up and about. After setting down our bags yesterday we went to a cafe to get a glass of wine and something to eat. I got a crepe (what else is new) with salmon and shrimp. The wine we ordered was terrible, so we were happy we only got one glass.

We were so tired after we ate, but we decided to push through it and walk to the Louvre, which is free on Friday nights. I still cannot fathom how big it is. It would take at least a week to get through it all. We tried to see as much as we could while still trying to appreciate it. It's hard to find a balance between getting to see what you want to see and not just breezing by the lesser known pieces. My art-nerdy side definitely came out (there were a couple screams of delight when I was surprised by artwork I didn't know was there). It's a good thing we had a time limit, otherwise who knows how long we would have stayed there, wandering around the long hallways in hopes of finding gems.

After the Lourve our childish souls drew us to the ferris wheel. We were pleasantly surprised to discover an entire carnival! I love the atmosphere of carnivals - ride goers screaming, people carrying the prizes they've won (always a stuffed animal, never the iPod they hope for), and of course the food since I'm a sucker for anything fried. When we were at the top of the ferris wheel we got a picturesque view of the Eiffel Tower lit up with flashing lights. It gets dark so late here, even at ten the sky was just barely getting dark and lights were beginning to turn on. We bought a big beer and wandered up and down the carnival, stopping once and a while to observe people on rides. We wandered home late and stopped by to get street crepes (I swear I eat other things) before passing out in our beds.