4 Days

Yesterday was quite the classic Parisian day. I started by going to lunch with a few friends at L'As du Falafel, which is famously the best falafel restaurant in Paris, located in the heart of the Jewish district. You can always identify it by the line of people out the door and the bright green facade.

Then we wandered around the area and looked in lots of vintage clothes shops (usually they were way artsy and expensive). Our friend Kyle then told us about something I had never even heard of before--Berthillon, the ice cream parlour where ice cream was INVENTED! And it was in walking distance, on Ile-St.-Louis. Berthillon was also identifiable by the long line outside:

And let me just say, this ice cream was. AMAZING. Amazing. We ate it while looking out across the Seine. It was pretty darn picturesque.
Now, even though we had just gotten ice cream, my friend Rebecca and I had been planning all day on going to Laduree, the famed patisserie known for having the best macarons in Paris. Now, first of all: macarONS in Paris are not at all like macarOONS in the states. Here is a picture of Parisian macarons:

The quest for the perfect macaron is much like the quest for the perfect cupcake in New York. Laduree comes pretty close to perfect. So, we decided to go to Laduree and stock up ("for later"). We walked along the Seine, waited in line (once again), and achieved success.
At night, I saw my first-cousin-once-removed, Christopher Fleischner, for dinner at his apartment. His partner Esther was at a conference in Copenhaagen, but it was really nice talking with him about Paris, America, and family history.
To wrap up the day, I met my friends again at the Eiffel Tower, where they were camped out with champagne. There is a really nice park leading up to the Eiffel Tower where you can sit and chill, which a bunch of people were doing last night. It was the last night (again) for several people, so we made toasts, talked about our time here, and just enjoyed ourselves.

Amen to a very, very Parisian day.