Paris Day 2: morbid places, beautiful gardens, outraged cops, and the Louvre

France has a very distinctive feeling for me. As an exchange student in Chateau Gontier in 2004, an intern in Conches sur Gondoire in 2007, and a tourist in Paris in 2009, 2010, and 2014, I always wake up feeling the same way in France. Everything feels different there to me--from the beds and sheets to the showers and bathrooms. Apparently, things felt different for Brandon, as well. But their effect on him was to cause an allergic reaction. He broke out in hives while we were exploring one of my favorite Parisian haunts: Pere Lachaise cemetery. 

I have a somewhat morbid fascination with foreign cemeteries, and Pere Lachaise started it all. Aside from being the resting site for famous people like Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Jim Morrison, Felix Faure, and Moliere, the cemetery is aesthetically fascinating. I feel somewhat ashamed to admit this, but on my study abroad in Wales, I did my daily jogs in Cathays Cemetery next to our flat. And I loved it, even though it might have been insensitive of me to enjoy it as much as I did. There's something about patchy sunlight, small cobblestone paths, creeping vines, and green moss that makes me feel like I'm in another world. I was relieved that Brandon appreciated the morbid beauty of Pere Lachaise, even amidst the discomfort he was in. I could've spent hours there, but we had to rush to the pharmacy. Good thing there's a pharmacy on every corner in Paris.

Are you allowed to smile in a cemetery? 

After our trip to the pharmacy, we grabbed some bonbons (pretty typical of the trip) and headed on an aimless biking journey, content to explore the city. Biking around Paris is pretty thrilling. The streets are narrow and the drivers much more daring, but they are also much more aware, so I feel much safer biking there than in the U.S. We biked from the 20th arrondissement through Bastille area, around Ile Saint Louis a couple times, and into the Latin Quarter. We passed the Sorbonne and reached my favorite street in the city--Rue Mouffetard. I love this place.

The street is full of artisan shops--fromageries, poissonneries, creperies, patisseries, charcuteries, boucheries, boulangeries. I love it. So much. We stopped at a my favorite creperie. Five euros ($6.75) for a nutella crepe, a panini or a savory crepe, and a drink. Unbeatable. And so delicious.

 From there, we biked to the Jardin des Plantes where we were whistled down by a gendarme for trying to bike through the gardens. Run-in #1. 

Walking around was lovely though! 

Turns out there's a zoo in the gardens, so we peeped through the gates to see wallabies, red pandas, and other animals that seem completely out of place in Paris. 

   We left the gardens on our Velibs and headed out. Direction: le Louvre. We had only been riding for about 60 seconds when another gendarme started whistling and yelling at us. "DESCENDEZ DU VELO!" The French gendarmes have really nailed the outraged shout, I tell ya. Obediently, I stopped riding and dismounted my bike. I realized, however, that Brandon was blissfully unaware that he was being yelled at by the French police and had kept on pedaling his merry way down the street. The officer was less than pleased. I yelled to Brandon to get down from his bike and explained to the gendarme that Brandon doesn't speak French. "Well I hope he can read street signs!!" he said, pointing to a circular red sign with a white bar. He was going to charge us the going rate (90 euros) for riding down a street in the wrong direction. Thanks to our penitent attitudes and obvious American ignorance, he let us go. 

Here we are, shortly after our run-in with Javert, happily riding in the correct direction. 

The Louvre was lovely. It truly is a behemoth. I spent every Friday night of my internship there (thanks to free Fridays evenings  for students 26 and under) and didn't even scratch the surface.

Brandon hates museums, and he was itchy and tired already, but I insisted on taking him through Napoleon III's rooms and browsing the large galleries at the very least. 

I have an obsession with decor, culture, and fashion of the 1800's, so I love Napoleon's rooms!

We spent a good half hour in front of this statue. Originally it was an excuse to sit, but the more we looked at it, the more we were amazed at the sculpture.

And a typical shot of museum Brandon. 

 Wonderful day! It was so difficult for me to take all the incredible experiences I have had in Paris over the years and to imbue Brandon with them as best I could in just four days. But day two was amazing!