Le Fac.

Notre Dame at the crack of dawn, when it is "less crowded."

On Sunday I accidentally hit a seated French woman in the face with my camera while disembarking the Metro. I was flustered and I did not know how to apologize so I ran. J'ai couru. My etiquette has improved since that day. Today I had a conversation with a baker-ess whilst purchasing a panini, and she seemed to a.) understand me and b.) not hate me.

I have been running quite a bit in Paris, which is apparently unusual for a woman. It is not unusual for Parisian men to run, I've noticed, and in fact there are tons of them darting about all over the place in their spandex like soccer moms on crack. Sometimes while I am running I try to establish a bond with running men by waving at them, but although French men seem very affectionate when one is standing still, I think they are threatened by my speediness. Last night I accidentally broke into the petting zoo at Le Jardin des Plantes while running about. I assumed France was a land of free zoos and was not perturbed by all the livestock until an employee bade me depart.

I went to Notre Dame this morning. It was absolutely awe-inspiring, and as I got there at the crack of dawn there were significantly less tourists than there usually are. That is not saying much, and there were people everywhere taking lots of pictures, which somewhat destroyed the ambiance. I literally could not walk more than a few steps without running into someone doing the classic and eternally crass "mimicking the stained glass in a sacred space" pose. Nothing says "I'm a tool" like a photograph of yourself giving two thumbs up whilst standing under a giant crucifix.