Walks Along the Seine, Laughing in the Rain

Since Carnival was just last week and that had wiped me out physically and economically I decided to forgo a long weekend trip and paying for a hostel along with many meals eaten out for a day trip to Paris on Saturday. Once I worked out the logistics of getting to Paris sans TGV in the morning and then getting back at a reasonable hour on Saturday night all things were a go. The train travel went off without a hitch, when I easily could have missed my connecting train in Metz.
I arrived in Paris around noon and metroed over to the Eiffel Tower since it was the furthest destination I wanted to hit from Gare de l'Est where I needed to be at 7:05 that evening. It started out as a gloriously clear and sunny day. I walked around the Eiffel Tower for a while and then trekked up to the Champs Elysees and L'Arc du Triumphe. I sat on a bench along the Champs Elysees eating a chocolate crepe before meandering down to the Luxembourg Gardens. From there I entered the Louvre and checked out the pyramids (and according to Dan Brown, the location of the holy grail aka Mary Magdalene's last resting place). I have a newfound interest in the pyramids since we studied the Davinci Code in my English class last week. After the pyramids at the Louvre I crossed the Seine and looked at the stalls that lined the river for a while before descending the stairs to actually walk along the Seine. I walked until I hit the Notre Dame. I had been planning on climbing it to get the views and relive Quasimodo's life a little bit but the line was pretty long and I was nervous that I might not have enough time to make it back to my train station by walking. Instead of the climb I souvenir shopped, donned a cheesy red beret, and purchased my second crepe of the evening. I strolled along side streets until I accidentally found Uncle Juli's old neighborhood and almost purchased some hammer pants that were on sale nearby. I watched a street performer outside the Pompidou Center before grabbing dinner at a grocery store and heading back to the train station. Along the way, I randomly found the St Sulpice church and went in, of all the Catholic churches, nunneries, and monasteries I have been to thus far on my European travels, it was the first one where I actually saw a nun. Fitting I suppose since it is the place the nun gets murdered by Silas in the Davinci Code... I told you, new obsession. I made it back to Gare de l'Est with a half hour to spare and travel home after that went off seamlessly.
It was a really pleasant day in Paris even though the weather started to go sour after the Eiffel Tower and my feet are still a little sore from walking for seven hours straight. Here are some of the pictures from the day.