Day 2: Finding things to do on a Sunday

Almost everything is closed in Paris on a Sunday. I found this out the hard way my second week here when I tried to go to the grocery store and found out that pretty much only small places far away from me are open.

Since the weather was so nice, I looked up what kind of markets existed on a Sunday for me and Alex to stroll through. A website told me all about the bird market that springs up near Notre Dame every Sunday morning. It sets up near a flower market that we discovered the first time I was in Paris (it was cool!). I asked Alex if he was game, and off we went.
There was every kind of bird and every kind of bird seed imaginable. I was surprised that they didn't have to protect it all from the pigeons.



I loved the African Gray Parrot that was at the Minnesota Zoo, Alex!


Some people were selling adorable bunnies which I got to pet. This cured my withdrawal from my dog for about two minutes. They were very fluffy.

It was so cool to see a wall of different-colored birds. I of course wanted one, but that chirping would get annoying fast.

There was one place that sold more unusual fowl, like baby ducks:

and EXTRAORDINARY PIGEONS. I bet the common street pigeons were sad that they are not this good-looking.

And "extraordinary" chickens (Why they still make that calendar and not the extraordinary pigeons one is a mystery...)
I must admit that this chicken was pretty fancy.


Another adorable rabbit for sale. It was giving itself a bath.

Gophers! (Chipmunks?) These were crazy. One kept doing back flips off the ceiling of the cage.


After leaving the market, I steered us into a cafe to get a sandwich and then over to Notre Dame. We walked past Ile Saint-Louis:

For those who don't know, Notre Dame is on an island in the middle of the Seine and in the middle of Paris.

We sat out front finishing our sandwiches and tourist watching until going inside.



It was interesting because an actual mass was going on. Incense was burning and there were priests giving communion. Imagine going to church in a tourist destination! I wonder how many people actually go there every Sunday. Most of the crowd were probably tourists (French-speaking though, because English-speakers couldn't understand the sermon).


Another thing that has made me a little disillusioned is that there are NO water fountains in France. They do not believe in people being thirsty in public.

Alex and I did find this rather interesting one across the street.


We filled up our water bottles and were ready to plan where to go next.


I suggested that we head to the Marais, the Jewish district of Paris, because we knew that things would be open. It was also the location of some pretty famous sights like Paris's City Hall (Hotel de Ville):

We happened upon the Pompidou Centre--it was hardly fitting with the village's rustic asthetic. Not that hard to find.

The French don't necessarily like it. It's only a series of tubes, like the internet.

There was a crazy fountain outside that had a bunch of moving parts in it:




Georges Pompidou (below) was a French President from the 70s. They named this huge library after him, and it has a modern art museum on the top floor.


We didn't feel much like paying 8 euro to be bored by "art", so we walked through the gift store free! It had a lot of cool objects. All outside our price range though.

Walking more through the neighborhood, I stumbled upon this "House of Europe" which was advertising for the EU.
After getting some rest at the hotel, we decided to go to Montmartre for the evening.

First, we visited the Moulin Rouge. Alex thought this was cool.

Fittingly, we next visited another church, Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart for you Scrubs fans out there). This church was built on a hill high above Paris. It is on the city's border almost, so you can see everything from up there. Or, you usually could. It was pretty foggy/smoggy the day we were there.


Some interesting guys were breakdancing for the tourists:


There is a smaller, cooler church just around the corner--St. Pierre's. It was built in 1147! That is old.


Alex turned around too fast. Beyond that door is a spooky graveyard.

We went to this place called "Croq'Minute" for dinner. That is the site of the best French onion soup. Alex ordered it, and he totally agrees with me.

After eating, we browsed in all of the cheesy gift stores and I gave Alex a short walking tour.

I still don't really understand the significance of this statue:



We got some ice cream for dessert and ate it on the steps of Sacre Coeur. Yum. Unfortunately, I had class the next day so I needed to get back so that I could wake up on time. Fun day!