I finally took the time yesterday to do Rick Steves’ “Historic Paris Walk,” for which I have the audio guide. I started at Place Saint-Michel, finally explored Notre Dame, traipsed through the Latin Quarter, and checked out the mighty courthouses. Paris is so alive with history and character. The cityscape spans from leaning medieval buildings, dark Gothic towers, to elegant grand palaces.

Walking along Boulevard Saint-Germain by myself, I checked out the second-hand French bookstores. I have attempted to read French newspapers, such as Le Monde and La Liberation, but haven’t read a full French novel here. So I purchased a title I recognized at a small bookshop: Un long dimanche des fiançailles, or A Very Long Engagement as it’s known in English (it was made into a movie starring Audrey Tautou). It’s a slow process, but I find that I understand the French writing well enough. I feel like such an imposter when I’m reading it on the metro, though, like I’m trying to pass myself off as French as it takes me over ten minutes to read one page.

Actually, I haven’t been taking the metro as much as I used to these days. Because, as lazy as I am, I am still really cheap. I haven’t bought any metro tickets in the last month, forcing me to jump the metro turnstiles or walk everywhere.

Still on the list to see: the catacombs, le Marais, Centre Pompidou, Versailles…