Back in Tuebingen after the better part of a week in Chapel Hill. It was a good recharge, and it was great to see everyone. I’m planning on doing a bit more travel later this week, but for now I need to take it easy for a couple of days, as I’ve been travelling for two weeks now.

So, on to Paris. Maggie met me in the Paris-Nord train station after my uneventful trainride from Amsterdam. As I had in Amsterdam, we simply headed back to her place and crashed, being late in the evening. The next morning, we got up, and after buying my Metro ticket and a wonderful chocolate croissant, Maggie went to class and I headed to the Eiffel tower. I walked the grounds for a while, had an espresso in a nearby cafe, and gawked as much at the hordes of Japanese tourists being disgorged from tourbusses as at the Eiffel tower itself. Maggie and I then met back up for a late lunch, then spent a good bit of the afternoon trying to get the internet working on her laptop. She then had class again, and I went with her this time–it was interesting to see what her studio class is like. After that, we cooked dinner with her roommate.

The next morning, Maggie again was in class, so I headed over to the Notre Dame. I wandered around there for a while, touring the excavations underneath and then heading into the cathedral proper. It was impressive and has much history, which I enjoyed, but I must say that the cathedral at Cologne was much more impressive–larger and more detailed. After leaving the cathedral, I ate dinner in a restaurant nearby that my cousin had recommended, and ate a wonderful meal, including one of the best desserts I have ever had–a sort of thin cake topped with a custard and wine jam. Most excellent. I then walked around the island and the Seine for a while, before heading back to the flat to meet Maggie. That evening, we ate dinner in a nice asian place down the street from her, and then headed out downtown for drinks.

The next day, the Louvre. We got there at about 10 and spent 3 or so hours inside, which isn’t nearly enough time for a place so large. It literally defies description is it so massive. Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping for a gift for Lindsay and my parents, and grabbed some lunch. Maggie soon had to go, but I walked around a good bit more myself, heading into a massive church built as a Greek temple, the church of Saint Marie Madaleine, then walking down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomph. After all this, it was getting late and I was knackered from all the walking, so I headed back home. That evening, we ate a delicious dinner at a small cafe, La Belle Histoire, that had again come strongly recommended from my cousin. A very cozy little place, with great food.

So that’s my time in Paris. The next morning, I boarded my train for Tuebingen, and then the day after that, headed to Frankfurt to catch my flight back to the States. I don’t really have much to say about that–really just a lot of hanging around and catching up, but a wonderful time nonetheless.