Day in Paris

Bonjour!

Yesterday, I slept in until 11:30 AM and met up with a few friends at 12:45 PM at the Louvre. Since I spent a half of a day there last year, I only wanted to see the Mona Lisa. It seemed a bit bigger this time!

After the Mona Lisa, we found a typical French cafe for lunch. It was perfect. We climbed a spiral staircase and had a whole room to ourselves. There was an open window which overlooked the street and a small piazza. There was a small orchestra playing the whole time we were eating. It was very memorable. Our waiter was very funny and helpful as well. I ordered a ham & cheese panini which was wonderful.

After lunch, we hopped on a subway to the church named Sainte-Chapel. It was beautiful. The whole second floor was hand made stained glass telling different stories from the bible. It was well worth the trip up and down two flights of spiral staircases!

Then, we went to Notre Dame to try to get in, but the line was too long. We did see a bread festival in the piazza in front of Notre Dame, though. They were making all different types of bread and even bread sculptures!

We headed back to our hotel after Notre Dame because it started reining. After resting a bit, I went and grabbed a burger from McDonalds (trust me, that's the only edible option by our hotel) and a piece of flan.

Then, I went back and changed into a dress shirt and tie for Moulin Rouge! The show was amazing. It started at 11:00 PM and each person got a half of bottle of champaign with admission. I could only have two glasses! The theater was very unique and had a lot of character. I really enjoyed the costumes and the set - they were very French. The music was very good as well and there were also very entertaining side acts in lieu of an intermission. It was a very enjoyable night!

So far, I am enjoying Paris much more the second time around. The people are nicer and the city seems to have a lot more character. Our tour guide told us that we should say bonjour before saying anything else to anyone and we will be treated better. It is working!

Today, we are going to the Gardens of Versailles. Then, I'm going to head back and do malaundry while they walk around the palace. I've already done the palace and found it a bit overrated!

Thanks for reading!

Michael