Move like a gypsy and find quasimodo.

After awakening from our beauty sleep in the Louvre, I wanted to stop by some of the Egyptian exhibits before moving on and out. We walked along the river, trying to be as non-touristy as possible towards the Notre Dame--only whipping out our maps when it was absolutely imperative. Parisians are interesting people... they're the proudest Europeans and the craziest, too. Twice in an hour some men walked past us making obtuse arm gestures and barking things in French. Needless to say, I kept my umbrella ready and close to me the entire day. Vintage posters, hand paintings and live music filled the streets of Paris and it led us all the way to the gorgeous Notre Dame. The arquitecture was just mindblowing, and I had to stand there in awe for a couple of minutes before we could proceed to line up to enter. I won't bore you with details of the stained glass... but it truly was magnificient. We spent a good 2 hours in there and took the tolling of the bells as our cue to start heading out. We walked on a downstairs path closer to the river for the journey back, and we were amazed to find sand. Sand? At the riverfront? Striped beach chairs and people in their swimsuits? I flung my sandals off and ran for that sand, and it felt great. I stood there with my feet immersed in the sand, feeling every grain on my skin for a good minute, and then sadly had to leave because the schedule was beckoning us.