Bruce arrived on Tuesday. I went to the airport to help guide him back to the apartment, but I was overwhelmed by the number of flights I had to sift through in order to meet up with him (Charles de Gaulle has 8 different terminals).
We went wandering around some of the older parts of the city and found this quaint little restaurant hidden in one of the back passages near St Severin Church. It must be a popular place for walking tours, because we watched group-after-group pass by the restaurant window. I had a tremendous dinner - beef bourguignon. Delicious. It reminded me of Julia Child (or at least the movie
Julie & Julia).
Wednesday was May Day in Paris - a national holiday. Lots of vendors were selling sprigs of lily of the valley on the street (a traditional custom on this day). Since spring has arrived, I keep seeing bridal parties and their photographers on the bridge at the foot of Notre Dame. I saw a similar couple up by the Arc de Triomphe (yes, with all the traffic and tourists racing around). I'm guessing the Eiffel Tower is also a popular spot for wedding photos.
There is another custom in Paris called "love locks" - a couple writes their names on a padlock, locks it onto the bridge, and then throws the key into the Seine as a symbol of their undying love. Our padlock is the silver one in the middle of the photo. I doubt we'd ever be able to find it again, because there are millions of locks attached to both sides of this bridge.
