paris, c'est toujours gris!

excerpt from 8/2 journal entry. day 2 of trip to lambarene. the non-sleep is catching up with me. sitting at gate for flight to libreville, capital of gabon. i returned from my paris day trip earlier than expected. initially planned to visit notre dame, la sainte chapelle, the catacombs, les halles, and the boutiques on rue alesia. however, the day's events were curttailed by the blazing sun, sleep deprivation, and especially the very heavy carry-on bag i'm lugging around. pleased to be sitting for a while.
actually wasn't so hard taking the train into paris today. paris is paris. still beautiful. still enviable. still smoky. gray and beige, thick with oldness and muted self-importance. nevertheless, endearing. as the day wore on, the gray gave way to blue skies. i was struck by the oddly comforting unchanged smell of the metro, a motley melange of pastry, detergent, and exhaust fumes. yum. as if on cue, the accordian player hopped on the 4 line ready to solicit and entertain. i highly recommend the lemon sugar crepe although mr. crepe man was trying to hit on me. more like mr. creep man, but amiable enough. forgot to pack tooth brush and toothpaste so had to chase some down.
so what did i see of paris? i started at la sainte chapelle, one of my favorite parisian cathedrals, conveniently located next to notre dame. i intended on visiting the bell towers, but the line was too long. it was time for plan b, something that involved sitting in the a/c. pirates of the caribbean was a long movie, but quite enjoyable. i did try to avoid the things i could do in the states, narrowly escaping the gravitational pull of mc donalds and starbucks. at last, i headed back to the airport. after preparing myself for the ubiquitous ham-on-baguette meal, i stumbled upon pomme de pain. eureka! l'oriental (curry chicken sandwich) with potato wedges and bottled water was simplement parfait. woohoo=) something nondairy for once. this place is full of cheese and yogurt. nevertheless, i'm still a fan of paris in all its neutral-colored brooding magnificence.