What I've been up to

It's been a few days since I posted. Here's what I've been up to:

On Wednesday, I was finally feeling much better after my allergy attack earlier in the week. It was a lovely, rainy day here in Paris. I went in search of Easter treats at Paris gourmet pit stops like Fauchon and Hediard. Based on a good tip, I found the best chocolate shop in Paris, A La Mere de Famille. I bought myself a dark chocolate easter bunny and a small dark chocolate easter duck from A La Mere de Famille. I'm convinced that this is where Easter baskets were invented. I had lunch in the Fauchon cafe and an afternoon coffee under the blue and green dome at Printemps, one of the older large Paris department stores.

On Thursday, I went to French class where I eventually made friends with both Sarah and Shawn. I definitely misjudged Sarah when I first met her. Neither Shawn nor Sarah will be continuing on in my class next week.

In the afternoon, I took the Metro to the Museum of Modern Art. What a treat. The place was pretty empty, the collection was amazing, and the view of the Eiffel Tower was stunning from the museum's café. This is definitely in the top three best Paris museums for me. And it was free. I then went to the Museum of Fashion, just next door. They had an interesting exhibit on corseted dresses. Yikes. Beautiful, but glad I don't have to wear those.

I went back to Planet Sushi for dinner. And it rocked my world a second time. Love that place! I took the Metro to the Montparnasse neighborhood to see Revolutionary Road and discovered a fun, lively area with lots of movie theaters. The one showing Revolutionary Road was scary looking, so I saw Duplicity instead at a theater down the street. A fun, but forgettable flick. I tried to stop at the St. Germain des Pres crepe stand at about 12:30am, but he decided to close up early at 12am. Another night.....

Today, I woke up really late. I hit another street market to stock up on food for the weekend. With Easter, there's no telling what stores, markets, etc will be closed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I had an Italian thin crust pizza and a glass of white wine for lunch at a peaceful sidewalk café about 1 mile from the Pere Lachaise cemetery.

I visited the Pere Lachaise cemetery late this afternoon. I purposely didn't buy a map and head straight for Jim Morrison's grave. I just wandered around amongst the trees and gothic monuments to the dead. I was surprised to see so many recent (after 2000) burials. I randomly happened on the graves of Colette, Honoré de Balzac, and Moliere. Finding three French writers felt right to me. This is the last and only cemetery I plan to visit in Paris. It was creepy and a little sad. I saw several black cats which truthfully felt like a bad omen. And it sprinkled. I was very ready to leave by the time I found my way out.