7 Juillet 2009

The Sacre Coeur



Bonjour!

Today was such a fun day. We had a free afternoon from the tour and a group of us went to Montmarte to see the Sacre Coeur. We got off the metro near the Moulin Rouge so we all took pictures and got lunch. We ate at a fast food type place called Quick, essentially a French McDonald's. American food!

The Sacre Coeur is so beautiful. For 5 euro we walked 300 steps up to the top tower of the church. (They should pay us to walk that far!) I thought I was in pretty good shape until today:) The view was definitely worth it though, so incredible. It was really cold and it started raining on our way up..maybe not the best day to go, but oh well.

Riding the Funicular down the mountain with Alex

View from the steps of the Sacre Coeur-Jocelyn, Jeff, Ashley, Me, Leo

Can you see the Eiffel Tower in the background?

There are street performers everywhere in Montmarte. We took the Funicular down from the top of the church; at the bottom, I got a "friendship" bracelet from one of the vendors-you stick out your finger and they make the bracelet right there. They try to charge you a lot, but I got mine for just 1 euro. Bargain shopper!

After Montmarte, I went to Ile Saint Louis with Leo. We were looking for an ice cream shop, but the one he wanted to go to was closed on Tuesdays. Zut! (French for shoot) So instead we got tea at a small cafe. It was such a coincidence because 5 years ago when I came to Paris with my grandma, we went to the same cafe and I recognized the waiter today-he was the same one who served us so long ago! I have a picture back home of him posing with Grandma. I need to take another with him while I am here to add to my photo album. Ile Saint Louis was very beautiful-Leo said it was a posh-y area in Paris. There were cute little boutiques and cafes lining the streets.

There are so many things I want to do while I'm here, a month just doesn't seem like enough time to fit it all in. My dad said I better not be sitting on the couch in France, because I can sit on the couch in California for free. Such a dad thing to say:)

Au Revoir,
Soleil