Paris in Autumn

Probably should have titled the blog Paris in Fall. Oh well I've always loved the word Autumn.

As you may already know, Ri and I spent an unimpressed 4 days in Paris in July. We didn't have a bad time, but we didn't have a great time either. I think these are the reasons we didn't enjoy it the first time around. Firstly the hotel and it's location sucked. Secondly there were so many people (tourist, so there were more gypsies trying to sell stuff to tourists). Lastly it was our first non-English speaking location.
It's a completely different place this time around! It's cold (so cold) but we are having a great time. Our hotel is within walking distance of the Louvre - and it's such a pretty walk with the big trees losing their leaves. The place feels less crowded. And if you can get by in Napoli you can get by anywhere!
We arrived in Paris yesterday, in the early afternoon. And I'm almost sorry to report nothing went wrong with the plane/bags/taxis/hotel. We had a nap and then braved the streets to find somewhere to eat. We are in a nice neighbourhood with alot of Japanese restaurants. We ended up in the oldest Sushi place in the street (10 whole years) and it was actually really good. After dinner we walked to the Eiffel tower and took some photos of it at night.
We were so convinced that today was Wednesday! Turns out it is Tuesday, which foiled our plans to visit the Louvre today. Instead we consulted the ever reliable Lonely Planet and found somewhere to have a nice lunch - a Japanese noodle place (Completely different to Sushi!) We spent an extremely stressed 5 minutes with the all-in-French menu, trying to figure out what may be vegetarian and deciding the Porc=Pork. The waitress could only laugh at our faces as they flooded with relief when it turned out she not only spoke English but used to live in Sydney.
After lunch (it was really yummy) we went to Musee d'Orsay. And the best thing happened!
After an hour or so of rating how dotty a painting was I recognised someone. Now I've been seeing my friends all over the place, but it never actually ends up being them... but this time it was! Dr and Mrs Doyle were at the Musee d'Orsay too! (Friend of mine from the Biom part of my undergrad degree). Turns out they've been in all the same places (Rome, Praha, Wien, Munchen). I was completely thrilled to see someone from Brisbane!
After the gallery we hit the shops to find some shoes for Ri to wear tonight at the Moulin Rouge! He ended up finding a 'they'll do' pair of black shoes and an awesomely fashionable pair of grandpa pants that are so Ri.
Blogger is not letting me upload photos again!