Gargoyles (et les autres choses)

Quick summary of the rest of my time in Switzerland/avec les Bernoullis:

In Bern I fell in love with the beautiful and often strange wooden statues that stood in the middle of the quaint (a word that`s entirely unavoidable in la Suisse, I fear) cobbled streets. My personal highights among the many colourfully painted figures were a monstrous man devouring babies and a bear dressed as a soldier. Bern was also exciting because I finally got to see/eat at Daniel Bernoulli`s lovely restaurant, something I`ve been waiting to do for a while. We also had lunch with Felix and Emmi B. out in the Swiss countryside near Bern, a great meal where we were plied with much delicious wine and amazing hospitality.

After Bern came Neuchatel, where we met Anne B., who looked after me for three months when she came to Canada twenty years ago (when I was a wee thing of three years old), and who I hadn`t seen for almost 12 years. It was fantastic to meet her children and get all caught up with her as an adult myself, plus she heaped the most fabulous generosity upon us in the form of food, wine and conversations full of laughter (and French practice for me). It was difficult to leave after only two nights, but Paris was ahead of us so we hopped on our last train of the trip and waved a sad goodbye.

Now we`ve spent our first full day in the City of Light and thus far I`m absolutely smitten. Some people tried to tell me about how dirty Paris is, how the streets are full of either tourists or angry residents, but really - what city doesn`t have those elements mixed in with the good stuff? Despite some seedy underbelly moments, I maintain that Paris deserves its magical reputation - there`s just something in the air here, floating around with the Vespa exhaust and scents of croque monsieurs, something embedded in the brick of the magestic buildings, the Art Nouveau Métro signs, something unique and absolutely thrilling.

Max and I tackled yet another subway system today with more successful results, getting ourselves to the Cité stop to see Notre Dame first thing in the morning (for us that happens to be 10 a.m.), after our breakfast of croissants and chocolat chaud was delivered to our room (yes, we`ve found ourselves in another full-service, fully awesome hostel - again). Thank goodness we did, since the tourists were thick on the ground by the time we`d exited the tower.

Seeing the grand cathedral was incredible - the stained glass rosettes were delectable, and getting to spend some time with the flock of gargoyles gracing the tower`s edge couldn`t have been more enjoyable. I said hello to my old friend the pensive monkey (you know, the really famous one), but took more joy in discovering an elephant, a bear and a creepy crouched garg who`d lost his face to the weather and now squats like a ghoul from a horror film over the city`s rooves.

After Notre Dame we made our way clear across the Métro to the bottom of the Bois de Boulogne (spelt wrong, I`m sure) to see Sex and the City: The Movie in a theatre that was kind enough to play it in English with French subtitles. I shan`t insert a review here, but for those of you who might wonder, yes, it did the show justice. I also learned some new French slang/swear words thanks to the subtitles.

That was momst of our day today - we sat in a few cafés and just soaked up the fact we`re actually here, in Paris. I plan to savour every moment.