The cousins are back in town and that can only mean one thing: adventure – or at least some fun.  We started the day off right with a croissant from Paul (a patisserie I later found out is a chain store – but it’s okay) and coffee on top of the giant department store, Printemps.  Definitely do this.  It gives you a great feel for where everything is in the city.

Next stop, the Musée du Quai Branly to see the Teotihuacán exhibit.

The museum itself is exciting to look at, colorfully hovering above the ground on thick pilings and surrounded by overgrown, exotic grasses and gigantic-leafed trees.

Inside, it was equally as awesome: an inner column enclosed in glass containing the museum’s archives of masks, instruments, weapons, tools and other artifacts encircled by ramps and the exhibits.  The Teotihuacán exhibit was really interesting.  The tour took us through the ancient city and described its construction and many of the rituals that took place within it, including human sacrifice!  There was even an obsidian tool on display that was supposed to be the tool they would use to remove human hearts during sacrifice.  It also looked like it would make a great spatula.  Product idea?  We’ll talk.

The permanent shows were also very cool: lots of traditional garb, plenty of instruments, weapons and other stuff to satisfy my intense yearnings to see Asian and African cultural artifacts.

Later we went to explore the two Parisian “islands” Isle de la Cite and Isle Saint Louis.  We walked passed Notre Dame in drizzling rain to La Palette, a trendy, French celeb sighting Mecca in the 6^th, for drinks.  I introduced one of my cousins to the joy of mojitos as we waited for a break in the rain before moving on to Chez George, also in the 6^th.   Chez George is an ancient little bar with a great underground cave, dimly lit by red sconces and offering a glass of wine for two Euros.  Definitely fun, go early or wait in line for the downstairs.

Finally we made our way over to Braserie Lipp for dinner.  Lipp is a classic Paris establishment, serving rich Parisian basics.  I had duck confit and my cousin had ham with lentils.  Both delicious.  For dessert they made me eat a whole 1000 Feuilles which means a thousand leaves.  It’s basically heavy heavy cream and croissant outsides in layers.  Great but a recipe for disaster.

After quite a bit of wine the rest of the night seems like blur.  We went back to Chez George for another drink, a Mexican joint for something with tequila, and then met some friends of my cousin and danced in a cave for a bit before walking what seemed miles home.