D133 -- It's all about the food

Being the food-obsessed couple that we are, I have to confess that the highlight of today was a fantastic caprese salad that Elva made in our apartment. A caprese salad consists of fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, slices of tomato, olive oil, basil, and sometimes balsamic vinegar. We had this salad for the first time in Mexico, and now we find ourselves addicted to it. It is very hard to get really good buffalo mozzarela, so we were excited to find it here in Paris. The salad was soooooo good. Even now as I write, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The picture doesn't do it justice, but at least it gives you an idea.

In the afternoon we walked to the Marais neighborhood in the 3rd arrondissement, which has been home to a large Jewish population for hundreds of years and more recently has attracted a large gay population. We love exploring new neighborhoods in Paris, as there are always lots of nice surprises waiting for us.

From Marais we headed to the 4th Arrondisement, passing through an interesting art exhibit in front of the Hotel de Ville, the city hall. We also walked through one of Paris' oldest squares, the place des Vosges. Victor Hugo lived and worked in a house on this square.



















Before heading back to the apartment we stopped by the Centre Pompidou, which houses the National Museum of Modern Art. Most of the buildings in Paris look like the ones in the two pictures above, so it definitely contrasted with everything else we've seen in the city.

-Tom