We're Going to Paris Day 4: In Which My Feet Fall Off

"There's always a part of me - a small part, a very small part - that, when I visit a quiet church, wants to yell out 'NONE OF THIS IS REAL. WAKE UP SHEEPLE."

-Mike Arcangel Flores, on visiting the Sacré-Coeur


Mike's phone was actually working much better by the morning of our Louvre visit. There's a weird line through the screen, but it's manageable, and it doesn't turn off or do its own thing for no reason after a few minutes. So he's back to having a working phone that has his map of all the places there was once a barricade or an uprising or strike at some point in this city's history.

It takes us a long time to go anywhere.

At breakfast, Mike ran out really quickly to take a picture of a firm called Talleyrand Financing because Talleyrand is his favorite historical figure. A few months into dating, he complained to me that his bank wouldn't let him create a debit card background with Talleyrand's portrait on it. Some banks, am I right?

On the way to the Louvre, Mike and I stopped at the WORLD'S LAST ORIGINAL METER, which Mike was very excited about.
"Oh, it's actually a meter," I said.
"Yeah, like a meter which all other meters are measured by."
"Like a unit of measurement. When you said 'the world's last original meter, I thought you meant a parking meter. Like 'this doesn't even accept credit cards! Crazy!'"
Mike was embarrassed on my behalf.

THE LAST ORIGINAL METER CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?????

Famous for the expats that were regulars in the 1920s. Like Hemingway.

Waiting for Mike again.

Mike and I then make our way to the Champs-Élysées, where the real Arc de Triomphe is (it was pointed out to us that we saw the Arc de Triomphe de Carousel, a pale imitation of the real thing, and I am embarrassed about the mix-up). Mike then took a bunch of pictures of statues, and then we walked through the Garden of the Tuileries again, where Mike took even more pictures as if we weren't just here two days ago, and then we entered the Louvre.

Can I be honest? The Louvre was the thing on this trip that I knew we had to do but I was not particularly excited about. It's full of artwork that, frankly, doesn't speak to me very much. Most art I enjoy is 19th century or later. Some of the Egyptian stuff is cool, but for the most part, what I liked most about the Louvre was the history behind the building itself and the architecture. There's a room on the bottom-most floor that shows the structure as it was during the Middle Ages. The Pavillion d'Horlage, I think. That was hands down my favorite part of our visit.

We did see the Mona Lisa, because you kind of have to. It's very crowded. Lots of people taking pictures.
"What do you think it's like to be the kind of person who takes a picture by the Mona Lisa?" I asked Mike.
"And block the exit while you do it?" Mike said, referring to one specific person.
"What do you think their hopes and dreams are? What do they want out of life?"

Profile pic!

We got to the romantic paintings after that, which I do genuinely like. Eugene Delacroix is pretty tight. Mike took lots of pictures.

Mike mimicking his namesake.

At a certain point, the only thing left to see was Hammurabai's Code. Mike really wanted to see other things besides the Louvre, and everything closes at 6, so we were on a tight schedule. When we finally found it (I had to rest every 10 minutes because MY FEET WERE DYING and I was wearing sneakers how do people do this?), people were in front of it posing.
"I just want to take a picture of this and we'll leave," Mike told me.
"Okay."
"Just have to wait for them to finish their selfie."
"That's not a selfie. He's just taking a picture of her."
"Oh."
"That's not the first time you've made that mistake. Do you... do you know what a selfie is?"
That question earned me a glare. But then the other people were done taking their photo and Mike started snapping his own.
"Want to take an actual selfie with the statue?" I asked Mike. He glared at me but he also wanted one so.

Next up was the Conciergie. While on the way there, we passed by a place called the Duluc Detective Agency, which apparently is famous for being family-run. Mike was pretty stoked about it.

Enjoying Paris in the rain.

The Conciergie is a cool little museum, and I'm glad Mike found it. The Conciergie used to be where they put prisoners way back in the day. Then it became known for housing both petty criminals and political prisoners during the French Revolution and most especially the Terror. Now it's mostly a museum.

The hall where most of the guards were stationed.

Where the prisoners were registered.

"When Robespierre won his first court case, he tried to woo a woman by sending her the arguments that won him the case," Mike told me. "He was a bit of a boy scout. And a Nice Guy."
"Gross."

We had an early dinner after that because we skipped lunch. I had an Irish coffee because those are delicious along with some French onion soup au gratin and chocolate mousse. Then we walked back home, which took an hour because Mike is a sadist I'm pretty sure. He also insisted on seeing the neighborhood where he thinks Voltaire and Emelie du Chatelet shacked up, which was cool I guess, while it was raining outside, which was fine because Paris is actually pretty beautiful in the rain.

Where Voltaire and Emelie du Chatelet, as Mike put it, "boned." Probably. Again, he's not totally sure.

Mike went to bed with the beginnings of a cold. Which is a shame, because tomorrow is our outside day. Parc Buttes-Chaumont and Père Lachaise. Also, Sylvain's birthday party!!!!!!!!!


(All photos in this post were taken by Mike.)