Oh, to live in Paris

In my short time in Paris, I find myself quickly getting lost in daydream - wondering what it'd be like to live in this beautiful city.

We began Day 3 walking in the Tuileries Gardens. With an espresso and a croissant in hand, I enjoyed the cool, cloudy morning mixing in with locals and tourists. I joked the tourists were taking pictures of shrubs (my photo's above), while locals were sitting on chairs around the fountain. I imagined that I was sitting on a chair, scribbling ideas onto a notepad.



After passing by Place de la Concorde, we strolled along slowly for the rest of the morning down the quays of the Seine, enjoying the river's calm. I imagined living in one of the beautiful buildings along the Seine; enjoying long walks every day or, hell, even getting the inspiration to jog!



Along our walk, we passed by interesting portable street vendors (above) that populated a strip of the street. They sold everything from old books and magazines to prints and postcards. They were a nice contrast to the fancy boutiques across the street.

We were hit with bad luck and rain in the afternoon - as several venues we wanted to see were unexpectedly closed; one of them due to flooding. At this point, I got pretty crabby. So we went shopping in the Galleries de Lafayette. One store sold these cool Mickey Mouse shirts - seriously - so I just had to buy one.



Our day ended with an uphill ascent towards Sacre Coeur (above) - located by the textile district of Montmatre. The climb to the top was absolutely worth it - as it revealed a beautiful view of the city below (see video below)



The rain continued relentlessly, so we quickly made our way back down. We stopped by a nearby supermarket. I wanted to make a home-cooked dinner, because I was so sick of eating out.

When we got home, I was still feeling crabby, because our day did not go as planned. But as I chopped the vegetables, the familiar feelings of being at home were conjured up.

As my pasta sauce finished boiling, I looked out the window to Paris 21 storeys below. The rain stopped and the sun came out for the day's final moments. My crankiness faded, because I felt - at that moment - as close as I ever would to what it'd be like to live in this city.