Day Five: Strip Joints and Bookstores

Last full day in Paris. We really didn't want to leave, but four days in Belgium and two in Amsterdam were enough to keep us thinking happy thoughts.

We were pretty tired. We'd probably already walked a total of 600 miles. Carmen had twisted her knee climbing the spiral staircase in our hotel on our first day, and it was getting more painful every day. So we mostly tried to take it easy. And speaking of easy *wink* we went to the dodgy, sexy area of the city, which included this old relic:



If you've ever seen Before Sunset (and/or Before Sunrise), then you know about Shakespeare and Company, an old bookstore located just near The Marais and just across the Seine from the Notre Dame. We had been planning on going there at some point, and randomly found it the night before during our walk. There was a book reading the next night so we crammed it into our crazy schedule, which included absolutely nothing.

There's a bit of history to this place, but the gist is that it's an English-speaking store meant for writers to hang out and work while they study in Paris. It's got a ton of character and, for someone who doesn't read a whole lot, it made me want to sit down in a corner and read Agatha Christie's life's work. Anyway, we bought some delicious Greek street food. We went to the bookstore. And we hung out.


That was our last night in Paris. We packed, got ready for a morning of traveling and went to bed. Got up, said farewell to Montmartre and our Metro stop, Jules Joffrin ...

... and jumped on the train to Antwerp.


And so began the first of two Belgian legs of our tour. Oh, sweet, sweet Belgium ...