Paris, days three and four

I am exhausted and ready to go to Pau. It's our last day in Paris before the 2-day bus ride down to Pau, and I have walked and ridden the Métro so much that I'm ready to pass out by 9:00 every night. Paris is beautiful and interesting, but it's also dirty and crowded like you would expect in any big city.

Yesterday we visited:

The Eiffel Tower, which was MUCH bigger than I anticipated (but the view from the top was incredible)
Les Invalides, a monument holding Napoleon Bonaparte's enormous tomb
Sacré Coeur, a church on a huge hill in northern Paris (traveler's tip: HIDE YOUR WRISTS on the walk up the hill! These Senegalese guys get in your face and try to tie string bracelets around your wrist; if they succeed, the bracelet is untie-able and they charge you 10 Euros)
The outskirts of northern Paris and the flea markets at Port de Clignancourt

The flea markets were disappointing; mostly cheap, made-in-China crap. I did find a nice watch, but when I tried to haggle with the merchant he got very offended. Oops. But it was interesting (and I think important) to see the outskirts of Paris, which have larger ethnic populations and fewer tourist activities. It felt like "real" Paris--the dirtier, less charming side of the city that lower income levels call home.

OH and I tried something disgusting. Thinking I would be daring and try a traditional French drink, I ordered un pastis with lunch--I had heard it was a "refreshing" summer drink consumed in the south of France. Yeah, it's like downing a thousand pounds of concentrated black licorice. And because I didn't want the waiter to taunt me, I drank the whole freakin' thing.

We also took a boat ride on the Seine river at night, passing the Louvre museum and Musée d'Orsay. The illuminated city was gorgeous.

Today we visited:

La Place de la Bastille, which used to be a military fort but since its destruction is now just marked with a fancy traffic circle and opera house
La Place des Vosges and Le Marais, one of the richest residential neighborhoods marked with a quiet park and Victor Hugo's apartment
The Jewish and gay districts
La Cimitière du Père Lachaise, a cemetery with the graves of Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison
And had a group dinner to celebrate our last night in Paris.

I like Paris, but I don't think I could live here. Too big of a city for me. But I haven't had too many problems with my French so far (although I can barely understand people when they respond to my elementary-level questions such as "Where are your bathrooms?" and "Are there any nuts in this?" Requests for slower repeats are quite common). I've been able to help out the other American students on the trip who don't know how/what to ask.