So we’ve been in Paris for 11 days.  We have seen the sun a few times…but we have seen rain on every single day of our vacation.  Every. Single. Day.  And typically, it’s a downpour that ends up soaking us through.  We’ve spent more time in very un-chic ponchos than we care to mention.  But despite those wet statistics, we still don’t want to leave.

This morning, there were hints of sunshine.  But we’ve seen it before.  We think it’s going to be a nice day, we get ready and go out and as soon as we step outside, there is the rain.  The never ending rain.  So today, we decided to just enjoy being in Paris.  We didn’t set any heavy agenda.  We slept in…we ate a simple breakfast at home…and all the while, we watched the sun grow stronger and the sky become clearer and more blue.   It what quite ironic.  The one day we didn’t make a plan, or take a day trip…it was setting up to be the perfect day.   C’est la Vie!

And to be honest, we still didn’t really believe that it would be a nice day.  We’ve been fooled too many times and come home with wet socks and shoes.  So after lunch, we decided to keep it local…we would go to Père Lachaise Cemetery and then walk around Canal St. Martin.  That way, if it started to pour down, we wouldn’t be too far away.

But it was sunny.  Super sunny.  Blue skies.  Warm.  Perfect weather for any of our other day trips…for Disneyland…for climbing Notre Dame…or visiting Sacre Coeur…or just about anything other than touring a creepy cemetery!

Truth be told, I wanted to visit Père Lachaise.  I had studied it when I was working on my thesis for Architecture.  My thesis was on a chapel in a cemetery, and Père Lachaise is famous for being the first “garden cemetery”.  In the past, people were buried in church yards or in family plots…but this cemetery was the very first planned, garden-like community for the dead…with streets and trees and vistas.  People actually came to visit just to take a relaxing walk.  And it was emulated all over the world…all over America.  There are some famous people buried there…but very particular sort of famous people.  The composer Rossini, the French singer Edith Piaf, Paris City Planner Haussman, Jim Morrison of The Doors, Oscar Wilde.

But the entire, sun-filled visit, I could only think of where we should be in such glorious weather.  Where we could have been if it had been so nice.  So the visit was tainted.  Of all the places that gloomy, dark clouds would have been appropriate…it was this creepy place.

So we agreed to high tail it out of there and enjoy the afternoon.  We spent the rest of the day going to cafes,…drinking coffee and wine (and water for Lena)…eating cheese and sweets…and just enjoying being outside and not having the awning of our cafe collapse under the weight of a torrential rain storm.  It was really nice.

It’s funny what nice weather can do to your state of mind.  We were like kids this evening.  Hanging out of our windows…smiling…enjoying being temporary Parisians…just happy that it was nice and warm…and not raining.  10 days of the wet stuff starts to soak into your brain.

Tomorrow is our last day here.  We want to think it will be nice…but we are still doubtful that Mother Nature will give us another nice day.  We’ll see.