What? No Bastille?

So, apparently the French don't feel the need to commemorate the Bastille in any way except for a holiday.  Mer and I went to find the Bastille today, so we got off the metro stop labeled "Bastille", assuming it would just be at the top of the stairs.  Now, we know the original building doesn't exist, but we were hoping for some sort of museum, model, re-enactment, or at least a commemorative plaque.  THERE IS NOTHING.  There is one sign on a wall that says the Bastille used to be there, and that is all.  No historical information whatsoever.  My guidebook says there is supposed to be some stone pavers down one street that outlines where the building used to stand.  Well, we walked the whole street and, guess what? NO PAVERS!  

After our extreme disappointment, we walked around the Ile St. Louis (the smaller island on the Seine).  The church St. Louis is a gorgeous old church nestled in the middle of this ancient island.  It is all dirty and full of art and sculptures and stained glass.  The nice thing that Mer pointed out is that although it was an old historical church full of amazing works of art, it still looked like people went to church there.  I'm going to go to and organ concert there later this week--we'll see how that goes.

We also wandered one of the best shopping streets in Paris (not the Champs Elysees).  We looked in all the designer windows and dreamed about the wonderful things we could buy if we had all the money in the world.  We stopped for quiche and a coffee at this adorable boulangerie that had a billion little eiffel tours made of bread sitting in the window.  They were so nice and didn't mind that we sat there for hours just chatting.  There was also a little old man who sat next to us eating a pile of green beans and polenta that kept dripping down his face.  He was pretty cute.

We also decided that Paris is gorgeous, but will be much cuter in the spring when all the trees have leaves on them.  There is no such thing as an evergreen here.  We went to the Tuileries today and it is currently just a lot of dirt and benches.  It will be much nicer when there are leaves.  And sunshine.  

Tomorrow is the first day of French class. Bon chance!