France has a new First Lady

While we wandered around Paris yesterday, French President Sarkozy and his girlfriend (of two months) Carla Bruni got married. We were literally right outside the Elysees palace, and didn't even know it had happened. They kept it a secret. I'm not usually around when famous things happen, so this is very exciting.

What a new twist on the lovely day. There was a 30% chance of snow... didn't happen. Instead sky was blue and clear. We walked around alot-- from a famous flea market up through the Latin Quarter, across the Seine to the Marais. It was too pretty to ride the Metro. We also went through a flower market where leaves of all different sorts papered the walls.

Going through Montparnasse, we decided to take a peak at the famous cemetary. The graves are mostly all family crypts. Voltaire and Jean Paul Sartre are among the famous bodies buried there. The existentialist's graves made me really sad.

Spring is slowly arriving. The Jardin du Luxembourg (near the President's palace) was chirping and had yellow daffodil buds peeking out of the earth. Nothing whatsoever was living and green when we walked through last December.

We tried to get afternoon tea at the Mariage Freres-- a famous tea house-- but it was too expensive and too crowded. Instead, we had some of their tea in the Lizard Lounge two doors down and watched Paris stroll past us through the window.

Everytime I've been to Paris, my opinion of the city has improved. Two summers ago, it left me with claustrophobia and heat stroke. It's better to see it slowly--a more French speed.