Gay Paris!

Wait, did I really go to Paris?
Yes, yes I did. I hung out with/ran into no fewer than a dozen different Middkids plus some other friends of friends, and generally had a blast. The hostel was kinda dirty, but also friendly. The food was good, except for that wok place that made me sick (you don't want to know the details). Traveling was hell. We walked EVERYWHERE, and got to have fun on the metro systtem, but I feel like the vast part of my time was spent just enjoying the company of the people around me. The sights of Paris were almost secondary.
Okay, the Eiffel Tower was pretty sweet. We were there for four hours, it was damn cold, I didn't have a jacket and we did not get to have dinner until ten and it was awesome. It lights up! Sparkly! And you can totally stick your head out of the grating.
Also the Louvre was great, although I am disappointed that the tags on all the pieces are only in French. I mean, it's a huge cultural center of Europe (the world?) and I really would have appreciated being able to have those little tidbits of information. Nonetheless, some of it was decypherable, based on all the Romance languages being actually the same thing. Anyway, I got to wander it alone for a few hours (with the map written in Italian!) and ended the trip with the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda). Seeing that painting, and seeing that crowd... it just felt good. I smiled a little smile a lot. Che gioca giochi, Gioconda?