Rainy day in Paris

Woke up this morning and went down the stairs of the appartment while Karen and the boys slept to join the old men at the cafe on the corner, drinking espresso at the bar. I had an allonge, with crema so rich that it stuck to the side of the cup. Fantastic.

Headed out the Sacre Coeur -- a massive (no monumental) church on the highest point of land in Paris. We hiked a great set of stairs to get up there, light rain falling the whole time. We arrived, with hundreds of other Catholics, to view this wonder. I couldn't help but notice all the masses of gold and hardwoods, little tributes to the colonial past of the church.

We headed down the other side of the mountain by fundicular -- a kind of gondola -- and walked through the rain to a simple eatery (french fries and pizza slices). We waited out the worst of it there before poking around a bit in Tati, Paris super-huge dollar-store. Came back to the appartment, tired and hungry, and had a meal of pasta and cheese.

Then headed out at around 8pm to see the Eiffel Tower -- hoping to catch some of the evening glimmer. Basically as we got out of the metro, a real downpour pounded on us. We trudged through it for a while, getting some good, rainstreaked views of the tower before we were overcome by the elements and decided to head back. Alden fell asleep on my shoulder through all of this. We all plopped down tired and ready for a hopefully more sunny day tomorrow.

No jet lag to speak of for anyone, though I don't quite know how we have avoided it. Something will go awry soon, I'm sure...