Day 7

Well for the first week we had another awesome day in Paris.  It began with an adventure into cuisine with a small place right across the street.  Here we tried a Lebanese wrap of meat, and veggies, in a nicely cooked pita.  The little street vendor has a permanent location, but the "restaurant," is at best 12 feet long by 4 feet deep.  Amongst the large convex cooking dome which makes the pita rise and bubble, they also have a microwave, a display for all of their meats and sauces, and a flat screen TV.  It is definitely one of the more interesting places I've eaten from, but also one of the best.  We ate as we headed to the Metro by Les Halles, a large multi-story (2 above, 2 below) shopping center, and took the Metro to Pere Lachaise, the world famous cemetery in the heart of Paris.  The cemetery is world famous not only because of its immense size, but also due to the large number of famous people buried there.  For instance Edith Piaf is buried there (for those who don't know her, you must go and rent La Vie en Rose, I promise you'll like it).  The most famous grave though is Jim Morrison's, which used to have a bust of him on the top of the headstone but due to a lot of vandalism, it was removed.  Now he has just his headstone, with a larger family monument (a different family mind you) directly in front of him, which is full of names, lyrics from his songs, and other graffiti.  

            The grounds of the cemetery are amazing, and surprisingly very relaxing.  The large trees provide a lot of shade, and create a moist atmosphere for those walking around the cobbled "avenues," of the grounds.  If you like, there is a virtual version of it with real pictures here http://www.pere-lachaise.com/perelachaise.htm .  Some of the graves are said to be famous for different reasons, the grave of victor noir is supposed to grant fertility, while the philosopher Allan Kardec is supposed to fulfill your wishes.  Oscar Wilde was a grave we visited not once, not twice, but three times.  If you look at our pictures, and I'm sure the pictures on the virtual tour you can see the numerous marks from lipstick left by women who have stopped by his grave to kiss it.  The first time we looked at it, went off and planned a route for which ones to see next. Then Steph decided that she wanted to leave a lipstick mark at Oscar Wilde's grave, mostly for the story. We waited for there to be as few people around as possible, then I picked her up to get to the spot that she wanted, on the wing of the angel. For some reason it didn't come out quite too well at first, only about half of the smooch was visible, but we left some what satisfied.  After visiting the rest of the graves of the people we were interested in we had an hour before the cemetery closed, and thus made our way back to Oscar Wilde's grave to wait for an opportune time where there were very few people, so that Steph could equip her lips with much more lipstick and replant her kiss at the same spot as before.  The second time went much smoother and with much success we took a few more pictures, and made our way quickly back to the apartment to get ready for dinner at Au Pied De Cochon.  This restaurant was awesome in its style, lighting, and service in every way.  We enjoyed, from a rather eclectic menu, our dishes, and were very very happy with desserts.  If anyone knows of anywhere in the states where we can get Rose ice cream please let us know because, in some weird way, the ice cream tastes just as the flower smells, and yes that taste is delicious.  We were slightly saddened, however, that we didn't order which almost everyone else in the restaurant had, which was a large bowl (about two feet in diameter) of seafood.  This dish came with pretty much any edible crustacean on it, at least twice.  We had a great time, and must thank Steph's cousin Andy for the awesome recommendation.  

            We returned to the apartment full and more than content with our day.  We relaxed, and watched Casablanca online, ready for another great day.  

- Kyle

Steph's notes: my dessert at Au Pied de Cochon, was the "La Vie en Rose" sundae. Rose ice cream, strawberry sorbet, rose jam, and whipped cream, all topped with a little pink "piglet" made out of meringue. There are pictures of it. Check it out. :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/scarlson09