We had a rough start to the day, but it was still so much fun. It was pouring rain and in the 50s, which was inconvenient since Adam and I had heavy, too-hot winter coats and no umbrellas. Almost all the museums in Paris are closed on Tuesdays, so we tried and failed to go to the Centre Pompidou. Adam’s stepfather thought it would be open, but when we arrived it wasn’t. But it’s an incredibly cool building. I don’t even need to go back to see the inside, the outside was enough for me.

The building design has all the internal ducts, vents, and general internal organs of a building on the outside. So the inside is just…space.

We consoled ourselves with chocolat chaud at Le Parvis across the square.

Bought really cute earrings for 15 Euros at Mandarine on Rue Saint Martin.

Then we made our way to the Champs-Elysees and tried to go to the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent on Rue Leonce-Reynaud. Time Out: Paris said it had collections of his gowns alongside the art that inspired them, like Picasso and Andy Warhol. It sounded like a great space.

It took us a while to find; I wandered into the Yves Saint Laurent headquarters and asked for directions in my best bad French. Fortunately the receptionist was nice and the building was around the corner. Unfortunately, when we got there we learned that it’s a rotating collection and isn’t always Yves Saint Laurent pieces on display. There is currently a furniture exhibition happening. Strike 2 for the day.

So we consoled ourselves with fantastic pizza at Balilli, an Italian restaurant just up the street.

We split up after that so Adam and I could go look at the Eiffel Tower, which by now was a very short walk away from where we were.

And the sun came out!

We thought about riding the elevators to the top…

…but the line was rather long.

So we took many more photos of the tower from the park on the opposite side of the river from the tower.

I swear, I feel like this park (and others like it) is in every spy movie. These are the benches where every secret agent is approached by their handler.

Tonight Adam’s folks were pooped, so the two of us just went to Pigalle and saw the real Moulin Rouge. Huge line outside for the shows, but it’s really expensive.

We found this great spot for dinner while walking around, Le Bistro de Montmartre. It was down the road from Moulin Rouge, and this piano player was awesome. He did everything from Gwen Stefani to “Hello, Dolly!”, and he took requests from a tipsy local who got the whole restaurant clapping and singing. So. Much. Fun.

I can’t complain about how well we’re eating. I know the lighting in this photo is crazy, but this duck confit, ratatouille, and fried potatoes dinner I had at the bistro was just wonderful. And really, really affordable. I keep forgetting that taxes and gratuities are included on the menu prices, so the bill is always predictable and sane.

So far 3 fabulous meals, 2 failed museums, and 1 sunny trip to the Eiffel Tower.