A/N: After all the drama and tears of the last few days it's time for exploring Paris. Just the two of them. Also ... dedicated to my dear friend emzypemzy, who knows that a paragraph is just the beginning. - Naidoo
The next morning Penelope was up early, feeling excited like a child at Christmas. She'd always wanted to go to Paris, tour the city and just dive into the French culture for a bit and now finally she would. A glance at her bedside clock told her it was just a bit after 7am. She knew Morgan most likely wasn't up yet and she didn't want to wake him, but she felt so excited, she barely could sit still. Leaving her bedroom she was surprised to see Morgan already sitting by the table on the little balcony they had, enjoying some coffee and reading a newspaper.
"You are up early," she chimed happily, before sitting down on one of the chairs and pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"I could say the same thing about you, Baby Girl. I actually wasn't expecting to see you up for a few more hours," he said, smiling softly at her, putting his newspaper away.
She smiled at the warm familiarity of the gesture he'd just done. She'd sat with him in Quantico, enjoying a latte, and had watched him doing the same exact thing. The fact that they were in Paris, thousands of miles away, didn't seem to matter when it came to that!
"So what do you have planned for us today?" he asked curiously, looking at her while taking another sip of his coffee. With his question, he watched as her whole face suddenly lit up with a massive smile; he knew this was something she had been looking forward to doing probably forever.
"We'll tour Paris. I have it mapped out already, the places to go and see and what we definitely shouldn't be missing. It's going to be great! "
When she smiled at him, Derek had no doubt it would be great. Everything that had to do with her was great. Even if she should decide on dragging him to the most boring place in this world, he'd go with her, knowing he would have a great time simply by being with her.
They'd finished breakfast slowly, taking their time, before getting changed and starting their tour of the city. Looking at yet another guidebook in Penelope's hand brought back memories of their trip through London. The things she'd made him see and do, look at and explore had been numerous but he hadn't minded. Italy, of course, had been slightly different, with both of them having been more often with their hosts than each other, but Morgan planned on making good on that mistake here in Paris. He had promised Penelope back in Quantico that he wouldn't just abandon her, but that's exactly what he'd done in Italy. In Paris, he certainly wouldn't make the same mistake again.
They got their tickets for the underground and started their day with a tour over the Seine, the river that ran through Paris. Despite it being a wonderful day with plenty of sunshine, the cold winds on their boat made Penelope pull her coat a bit tighter every now and then. Morgan wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his solid chest-and just like that, she wasn't feeling cold any longer...
Getting off the boat, Penelope grabbed Derek's hand and pulled him strongly towards what looked like a big church - an impressive, tall building that could be seen from miles away.
"Buried in that church are loads of important people, like Marie and Pierre Curie and Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau," Penelope explained excitedly, making Morgan smirk. He found it adorable how excited his best friend seemed to be in this church.
His eyebrows went up in surprise. "Voltaire, Hugo and Rousseau? I didn't know you were into the classics. That's something I always thought Reid would be into, but not you," he remarked, adding quickly "Not that you wouldn't strike me as someone who wouldn't read them." He backpeddaled a bit when he noticed how it could have sounded to his friend. He never questioned her intelligence; hell no, she was definitely one smart cookie!
Penelope just smiled at his comments for a moment, before answering, "Well, you don't necessarily have to read them to know that their works are pretty important in the world of literature and philosophy."
"And now you sound like Reid," Morgan added with a laugh, which earned him a playful punch in his upper arm from Penelope. He draped his arm around her shoulders and they left the church again, with Penelope guiding them towards their next destination – yet another church, although this one looked entirely different to the previous one.
"Notre Dame, by the way, is the main setting for the novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which was written by Hugo. Just because we were just talking about … classics," Morgan heard Penelope explain suddenly, and he was barely able to repress a laugh. Sometimes her geekiness was adorable, especially when standing in front of a church with a guidebook in her hand. The inner part of the church was rather dimly lit and cold, making Morgan hope that Penelope didn't intend on spending too much time around this place. He didn't mind looking at churches and other things that weren't really his cup of tea, especially not when it made her so happy, but freezing in places he didn't mind seeing was an entirely different story. Luckily Penelope seemed to feel the same, and just a couple of minutes later, they were on their way to wherever Penelope guided them next.
They took the underground and got off some place that sounded rather cute when Penelope pronounced it in her French. The Place de la Concorde was actually a Place: rather large, with an obelisk in its center and two fountains. The place was located right between the Tuileries gardens and the Champs-Elysée, which was nothing more than a street in Morgan's opinion. Of course, he was wise enough to not say it like that, knowing that for Penelope, it probably was another reason for excitement. After all, it was supposed to be the home of some of most well known designers in the world.
"Actually, it isn't," Penelope corrected him when they strolled upwards the Champs-Elysées towards the Arc de Triomphe. "That's just everyone always assumes, but the actual home is Avenue Montaigne as well as the district of Faubourg Saint-Honoré."
"Are we headed there as well?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders just a bit tighter. It wasn't really cold-and Penelope hadn't seemed to be cold-but she didn't complain when he pulled her closer. For the moment, he would just remain this way, and enjoy her closeness.
Penelope laughed at his question for a moment. "I don't think they sell clothes that would fit my salary, so no, we won't...but we will go someplace else. After all, we are in Paris, and Paris is made for shopping."
"Didn't you already say the same thing about London and Rome?" he asked with a smile, kissing her forehead softly.
"Yeah, but there it was just an excuse." Penelope giggled softly, pressing herself a bit further into Morgan's body.
They made a quick stop at the Palais de l'Elysée, which was the residence of the French president, before continuing towards the Arc de Triomphe in the north of the Champs-Elysées. Afterwards, they took the underground to a place called Montmartre, which Penelope explained was some sort of artistic borough of Paris. They visited yet another church, which looked once again completely different from the previous ones. The Basilique du Sacré-Cœur was on top a small hill in Monmatre and reminded Morgan more of the Taj Mahal in India than a European building.
They had a late lunch in one of the numerous small cafés lining the streets, and Penelope kept telling Morgan stories about Paris she read in one of her guidebooks. Derek couldn't hold back a smile every now and then from the excitement she told the stories with.
After their lunch, they took the underground yet again to the far east of Paris, a park Penelope wanted to visit. She said there wasn't exactly anything special about that park, but it would make a nice finish for their day in Paris.
With the great weather and the sun, they rented a rowboat to get out on one of the numerous lakes and just enjoy the peace and tranquility for the rest of this afternoon. Penelope had gotten coffee to go and some pastries from one of the little restaurants before they sailed off, so they were laying in the boat, sipping on coffee and eating pastries in the middle of a lake in the middle of Paris.
They finished their day of touring Paris with some shopping for Penelope, as well as a quick stop at the famous Moulin Rouge, before returning back to their hotel, before getting ready for their night out in Paris.