C'est où, la grève?

So, after all that build-up, I saw absolutely no tangible evidence of the strike here in Paris today (other than some hastily scrawled graffiti on a bank ATM around the corner from my apartment). I didn't make it to class, but not due to the strike (more due to continued sickness and alarm clock failure). The metro ran with absolutely no hitch. There were no demonstrators in the streets anywhere that I saw (I'm sure there were somewhere at some point, I just didn't happen to find them). Classes apparently went smoothly at Sciences-Po. Had I not known it was coming and read news reports, I would not have been able to tell that there was a strike today based on available evidence.

Due to this, my excursion to try to get some good pictures of the strike was...well...a failure. I got some good pictures, but not of the strike. If you're interested in seeing some of them, head over to my Flickr. It was a gorgeous day in Paris today: perfectly blue skies, a little over 60 degrees. As a result there were tons of people out walking around. In fact, I went to the Luxembourg Gardens and there were literally thousands of Parisians lounging, chatting, eating, playing and generally enjoying life. This was in sharp contrast to the only other time I visited the Luxembourg Gardens. That was my second day in Paris (Feb. 4th, I believe) and it was below freezing, so I was practically alone save for the ducks, who were all standing on the surface of the completely frozen fountains (take THAT, Holden Caulfield). Yet, now spring has finally arrived in Paris; in the last four or five days things have even begun to bloom!

The only drawback to the improving weather? Tourist groups. Everyday there are more and more groups of 30-50 tourists invariably stopped in the least convenient place they can find on a street and/or sidewalk paying approximately zero attention to the traffic around them. I guess it just comes with living in a large city.

Since I finally offloaded some pictures from my camera, I've got some pictures of our apartment to post! Enjoy: