Our plan was to walk around the little island on the Seine called Ile Saint Louis, which has loads of quaint shops and character. We were too early, though, and almost everything was still closed as we wandered through. No big deal. Instead of a wander, we sat under some trees in the beautiful backyard of Notre Dame, watching the people wander by and kids play on the little playground. After a while, the kids left and I had the idea to try the round spinny thingy (clearly I don't know what the name of this thing is - see pictures) on the playground out for ourselves. The next ten minutes were spent spinning, taking pictures while spinning, taking videos while spinning and then feeling quite sick. So fun. So sick. We started a trend as other grown adults tried the spinny thingy too.
After spinning and nausea, we tried food again, this time at an overpriced place near Notre Dame. Food was mediocre and we were still feeling a bit queasy so it wasn't the best time. And for me, our next destination for the day was calling. Metro time. On our way to our stop, we came across an event that looked much like the kind of protest typical in the U.S. Sure enough, after googling I discovered that it was a labor union protesting and rallying. It was interesting to watch the speeches, despite not understanding what was being said. We stayed long enough for us to recover from spinning and lunch.
After two metro line switches, we finally made it to a huge and famous cemetery in Paris called Pere Lachaise. Many well known Parisians (and non-Paris folk) are buried there, and much more interesting to me, the mausoleums and grave markers are incredible. Right after we arrived, however, Alex's afternoon anxiety and depression set in and we were stuck on a bench working on getting him settled before wandering around. It was a rough one. He was anxious about transitioning home tomorrow and that brought up all of these worries about what he's doing with his life. Regrets about the trip were also a topic. At one point, I was rubbing his back and he busted out laughing for a minute, saying that people walking by probably thought we were mourning. I responded by saying that I thought maybe we were mourning the end of our trip. It's so strange to look back throughout the trip and think of all of the places we've worked through these emotions, from churches (many, many churches) to museums to beaches and now a cemetery. It's the traveling Alex and Ali anxiety show. But in all seriousness, today was not an easy day for Alex and the worst of it made him stay put on the bench while I explored the cemetery. This is a must do for visitors to Paris. I know folks like Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison are buried there, but I only saw Chopin's grave (which was beautiful). It was a somber and surreal walk.
Alex and I, for the second or third night in a row, purchased groceries and ate in the apartment. We were just physically and emotionally spent (must have been all that spinning -- physically and otherwise) and we needed to pack for our trip home. I'm sad to be at the end of this journey, but I also can't wait to see my George (and all of you fine people). As last days of a trip go, this one was quite fitting.
Amazing cemetery.
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