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No sun today. We awoke to a slight drizzle, so we decided to keep close to the apartment. Grabbed two filling pastries from a patisserie (Pastry Gabrielle) on the island. Our furnaces stoked, we trotted off in the chilly air across the Seine to the Left Bank. We decided that the Louvre would be our indoor activity of the day, so we wove along some Left Bank streets, crossed the Pont des Arts, and descended into the Louvre’s giant pyramid.

We discovered that the day AFTER Free-first-Sundays (and in the middle of winter) is CERTAINLY the way to guarantee the fewest visitors at the Louvre. This left us with no lines and more personal space to enjoy the myriad of galleries. We were even able to get close enough to the Mona Lisa to discern details in her face. We stopped long enough to enjoy an unmemorable lunch at a Louvre cafe. Lunch was saved by a warm Nutella and banana crepe for dessert. We stayed in the Louvre until we were shooed back out at 5pm. Dusk had just settled in, so we were able to snap a couple pictures of the Louvre pyramids illuminated.

We rested briefly back at the apartment and then headed out to take some nighttime photos of Notre Dame. We ate a hearty, traditional French dinner on our little Isle at a cozy place near the apartment, and then we walked over into the Marais for a couple of mojitos at Open Cafe.

To bed… To bed… Our eyes are droopy. I am sure we have another fun day ahead.

We emerged from United’s Made-in-the-USA cocoon and stepped wearily onto French soil. Well, French soil covered by Charles de Gaul’s sixties-era Terminal 1. It would seem that a surge of flights arrived just as we did, causing an extra-long line at Passport Control. French efficiency at its best!

All troubles were soon washed away as we were greeted by Victor–our friendly driver into the city. A 30-minute, traffic-free drive later, Victor crossed the Seine–halfway–to enter Isle Saint Louis. This tiny island sits in the center of the city alongside the Isle de la Cite, which houses Notre Dame Cathedral.

Unlike our previous European itineraries, this trip will be based in one place, so we decided to rent a cozy apartment to get a sense of Parisian life. We’re at 52 Rue Saint Louis, Paris if you want to Google Earth us. The apartment’s most dramatic distinguishing feature is its painted wood-beam ceiling. (Our thanks to Brooks for this fantastic recommendation.)

We shut our eyes for an hour, freshened up, and headed out to find lunch. The low-40s air was nippy, but no complaints…not a cloud in the sky. (From what we hear, that will change.) Today, lunch was in honor of our friend Chris and our brief visit in June: croque monsieurs from a cafe next to Notre Dame. After lunch we walked and walked with no particular destination in mind: we strolled out to the Pont Neuf and along the Seine, wandered through the Marais, people-watched at the Palais Royal and Centre Pompidou, and daydreamed in the Tuileries gardens by the pond with little boats sailing across.

We decided to return to a familiar restaurant in the Marais for dinner. Afterwards, the walk back to the apartment was chilly, and the starless sky foretold the end of our one-day sunny day streak. Nevertheless, we are hitting bed satisfied and exhausted.

Jeff finally got to cash in on his Christmas present as we boarded a crack-of-dawn flight to Paris. Our first leg was from SFO to Washington Dulles. The air over Virginia was a bit bumpy for our taste, and our layover was too short to unwind. But some leftover Christmas magic was in the air, and our upgrade to business class came through as we approached the gate. Amazing how a little Champagne before takeoff takes the edge off. (The rest of the edge left with the bottomless wine.)

We landed at CDG in the early AM to begin a relaxing week. Stay tuned.

So, I alluded to our new GPS navigation helper who we have named “Emily” after her lilting British accent. Other than our test runs at Christmas, we haven’t done any long roadtrips, so we’ve taken to trying to fool Emily as we drive around the City. We plug in obscure destinations and then mock Emily as she tries to take off our “normal” route.

Still, Emily is patient when we ignore her directions. “Recalculating…” she announces calmly after each missed turn.

I was thinking that you could really have some fun with programming a GPS personality…particularly the NAG that berates you when you miss a turn. “Didn’t I tell you to turn left? Why don’t you just figure it out yourself, genius.” 🙂

No, not our Emily. She is sweet. And she seems to know where every Starbucks in the world is!! What more can you ask for?

Jeff and I joined our friend Chris for a very yummy brunch in Noe Valley this morning. We ate at a hip hole in the wall called Toast, which seems to specialize in mouth watering French toast and pancakes. I didn’t happen to have my camera today…which made me think of these photos from our Sunday lunch LAST weekend at the de Young 🙂 (I tried this flavorful pastrami sandwich.)

We hit the de Young as the afternoon sun was just starting to light everything up with a hint of red. This really set off the panoramic landscape around the de Young’s observation tower. One cool aspect of the tower is that it is free to everyone, not just museum visitors. A very nice gift to the community.

The sunlight also set off the new Academy of Sciences, which is under construction directly across from the de Young. Slated to open in 2008, this building already captivates the imagination with its sine-wave roof.