Paris- Day Two

Sacre Coeur

Sunday we woke up bright and early and made our way to Bateaux Mouches, which is a boat cruise on the Seine! It was really cold, but I am glad I went because it gave you a different perspective of seeing the landmarks from the river. Our boat was called La Galere and it took us past the Hotel des Invalides, Palais Bourbon, Institut de France, Place de la Concorde, the Palais de Chaillot, and a lot more around the bank of the Seine.

After our boat trip, a few of us joined our tour guide to head up Montmarte (the highest point in Paris) and to the Sacre Coeur. This is by far my favorite part of the trip!! After the steep hike up the steps, it was beautiful. The view was amazing, the entertainment was exciting, and the church was a perfect back drop for the scene. We then went around a corner and there was a square full of artists. Each one of them had there easels up and were ready to sell there goods. After a lot of negotiation, I bought a beautiful ink drawing of the river with the Eiffel tower in the background. I can not wait to get it framed and hang it up! My four friends and I then went to grab lunch at a little French Cafe. I had French Onion Soup and Roasted Salmon, which was delicious(like all the food!). We then headed back to the church to walk through it and I wish I could have taken pictures because it was just as beautiful as the outside. Sadly we weren't allowed though.

We then made our way to the Louvre. All I can say is that it is enormous!! We were there for two and a half hours and we only got through two floor wings! (thats only about 1/8 of the museum, if that!) I was able to see the Mona Lisa, the statue of Ramses, Aphrodite, the winged Victory of Samothrace, and other various works. I was really excited we were there on the first Sunday of the month, because we got in free!! Because of this though, it was a little crowded. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though, because we were there towards the end of the day. After browsing for awhile, we then headed outside and had a blast taking funny pictures! We then found our way to the tube and made our way back to the hotel to take a little break.

After we were refreshed, we went back to the Latin Quarter to eat some dinner. It is full of small streets where all the owners just haggle you to come in to their restaurant. You talk to them for awhile a look uninterested and eventually they will give you a deal. We went into one where you got three courses for just 10 euros! I got a tomato and mozzarella salad, a half a chicken (they actually just cut it down the middle!) and a crepe with nutella and ice cream. I even tried escargot at this meal and, truth me told, I really like it! We then hung out for awhile and went into a bunch of little stores.

We were all really tired, so we went back to the hotel to get a few hours of sleep before we had to be up to catch our train. We woke up at 6 and made our way to the bus. After sitting on it for about ten minutes, the bus driver was ready to take us to the station. Only one little problem...the bus wouldn't start! After trying for about 15 minutes to get it working, our tour guide announced that we had to get on the metro with all our stuff! It was a mad house since it was early on a workday, but thankfully we all made it to the station! We then boarded the train and I was back 'home' in London!!!