Maya and I took Eurostar back to Paris, after spending a wonderful two days in London. It might sound strange to call Paris my home, but I felt like I was coming back to a very familiar place. This was Maya’s final full day in Paris before flying back to the states so we decided to make the best of the day by doing perhaps the touristiest thing to do in this City of Lights – go to the Eiffel Tower, of course!

But before that — Jardin du Luxembourg.

Sitting at this breathtaking park, located a mere steps from the hotel, was by far my favorite part of this entire Paris trip. I think this was one of Maya’s favorite experiences in Paris as well. Relaxing on the reclining park chair (although not comfortable but I didn’t care), eating delicious takeaway lunch we purchased at our favorite shop, Gerald Murot (Maya got the sausages with cooked peaches, and I got the steak with potato gratin – both delicious), and just taking in everything with my best friend was exactly what I needed.  I thought about many things — how lucky I am to have the opportunity to come to Paris, have the best friend who came to share this special experience with me, and have wonderful people waiting me at home.  And how I’m going to miss this place when I leave in a few days …

It was not the perfect weather where one part of the sky were blue and the other black but we were glad that it didn’t rain. I, too, was leaving Paris in two days and I wanted to soak up as much of the beauty and energy of this city as possible. I really wished I could just sit there and watch the pigeons walk by forever. I am absolutely head-over-heals for Paris.

By the way, I noticed that pigeons in Paris are, um, rather plump. I’m sure they are well-fed by tourists around here. I guess the French paradox does not apply to birds.

We walked around the park to figure out where the original Statue of Liberty stood. We thought the statue might be a big deal here, as in the states, because of its beauty and we although that it would be standing proud in the center of the park somewhere but we were completely mistaken. Lady Liberty was at the quiet part of the park … and noone seemed to care here in Paris. I still thought Lady Liberty was beautiful.

Oh, and yeah, the Eiffel Tower!