Day 23: I found my SOUL (sole?) shoes! Get it...?

Guess what? I sat at the breakfast table sipping on coffee and orange juice...Sound familiar? The most productive claim of the morning is that I bought evening tickets for the Eiffel Tower for the date of...August 2! The last evening I have in Paris. Wow, typical...classic...boring, WHATEVER. I am still and will forever be romantically touched by this tall metal structure, so I plan on saying "goodbye" (or "really see you later") to this wonderful city after the short month I have left by pooping my pants while standing very high up in the air. My plan is perfect and no one can tell me otherwise.

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Other than this eventful online purchase, my host mom had some interesting stories to recount about this Sicilian set of catacombs created by the Capuchin monks in Palermo where dead people stand upright, and they perfected the science of embalming (?). If you're a little spooked, I would classify that as a normal response.

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Eventually heading out, the department stores were our stop of the day. Au Printemps was some of the most interesting in-store window shopping I have done in a while. The array of luxury clothes struck me in the heart of my very being. Fashion designer? Hmmmm.

Scooting on over to Galeries Lafayette, I felt like I was going to see a concert and the seats were limited. There were crowds of pushing purposeful people. Oh, how my elbows sure are my best friend. The dome in this building is otherworldly; I felt like I was looking up into some ornate cathedral or palace, like I entered into the wrong door. I just wanted the department store, not a castle...

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Then I took the long and hard way down into the belly of the beast, traversing through throngs of mongrels as I searched for the elixir of life. That loosely translates to: I took an escalator down a floor; it was packed; I was looking for a rad pair of shoes; it was absolute craziness.

Almost leaving the shoe floor after thinking we had seen it all, Anna's eyes fell upon the most majestic pair of shoes I have ever seen. The prominent square toe, vague loafer tongue, and angled heel just called to me and my entire being. You just have to see them to believe them. I bought them in a muted baby blue, Anna bought them in a snake brown. Watch me take LA down with them when I return. They are the perfect taste of retro. Our eyes were attracted by the coolest jewelry booth as we exited. Naturally we stopped. It was called Les Néréides where each piece of bling felt like a unique creation of classy youthfulness.

Deciding to head back for food, we had some free almond plant-based coffee from a stand on the way back. OoOoOoohhh yes. I felt like I was drinking the equivalent of a red bag of Quadratini.

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A boulangerie for our sesame seed baguette and Carrefour for our homemade arugula, tomato, and cucumber salad with a feta cheese, pulled together with little saucissons and left over hummus. I do not think I will ever get over this.

Munching on this freshness on the floor of my room with the massive windows opened wide, the evening breeze flowed in effortlessly and enveloped us in such bliss.

To finish the night we accidentally dripped apricot juices all over ourselves as we tried to eat some of the most delicious natural sweetness I have ever tasted. Yum.