la tour eiffel from the seine, and an artichoke the size of your head -

begin day three at the pont neuf,
(the "new bridge", named so when built because it was the first bridge in paris to be built from stone, and the first to not allow shops or homes to be built ON the bridge)
and catch one of the,
yes,
tourist boats to see the city from the seine:



ok, yes, i was skeptical.



but i very quickly gave in.
the city continually stuns you,
even more so as you hear it's history,
each bridge with a tale to tell (each is unique, and idea instituted in chicago as well)


like the fact that notre dame took over two hundred years to build.
these days it's hard to get people to make a decision and stick to it for a month,
and they stuck to a church build for two centuries.

finding your favorite woman's name, floating by:

learning that the eiffel tower is repainted, completely, every two years,
or that it was only meant to be up for twenty years, then taken down,
or that it is the only structure to get the legion of honor,
for its' role in defending the city in the war.

or seeing the smallest house in paris,
where both and lived:


back on land, we stumbled into a cafe:


and ate the biggest artichokes we had ever seen: