Je suis fanatique des bouquinistes.

I'm currently sitting in Soj's world famous reading chair, relaxing after a long tour of practically all the bookshops in Paris. (See her blog for proof that I am actually here.)Why did we spend most of one of my few days in Paris doing that? Well, in the last thirty-six hours, I had already seen for the first time all of the following:

~ Tower Bridge
~ Big Ben
~ Parliament
~ Westminster Abbey
~ Eiffel Tower
~ Notre Dame
~ the Louvre
~ Sacre Coeur

Admittedly, some of these were seen briefly and from a distance (Every time I say "from a distance," Soj bursts into a Bette Midler song.), but, still, I would say that I had already seen plenty of major sites of London and Paris in the last day and had my fill (at least for the moment) of tourists.

Yes, I do know that I currently could fall into the tourist category, but I prefer to consider myself a "traveller." If I think of it that way, I feel less guilty about turning up my nose at all the other people in front of me in lines, many of whom I will be hating tomorrow when I actually visit the Louvre and other well-known places.

Anyway, we did the "traveller" thing today and wandered through many little Parisian streets in search of the perfect used bookshop. We visited Shakespeare and Co., the Village Voice, Tea and Tattered Pages, and many of the bouquinistes along the Seine. I never actually bought anything, except overpriced postcards, but, now, having seen some of my choices, I will probably retrace my steps tomorrow and take my picks.

In the meantime, I am sleepy, as is my hostess. I need to be rested up to see Mona Lisa tomorrow, and I also need to get Soj to stop singing cheesy songs to me, so I bid you adieu. (Soj sings, "To you, and you, and you.")