How do I begin to explain my Saturday? I guess first being that I took so. many. photos. The unfortunate thing is that I do not own a laptop so I did not think to bring my USB to upload pictures on someone else’s computer, so the less than great pictures from the phone I often forget I have here will have to do.

12:30-2:30- meeting with my group at the Pompidou for our project. After we decided on a meeting spot for the tour, we decided to take a walk around le Marais. On our way we stumbled upon an awesome parade that began at Hotel de Ville, and snaked it’s way all around the area. Never mind that it made it impossible for us to get back on the train- the dancing, drum beats, and beautiful colors were a great sight to see.

2:30-4:30- Pere Lachaise cemetery walk. If you want to go to a quiet place in Paris, go to pere lachaise (maybe you’ll hear an occasional siren in the distance, but we can’t have it all). Among  grandiose tombstones, you’ll find others fallen over from tree growth, and plenty of moss and mushrooms covering basically everything. It honestly looked like jungle ruins. I would say it is a must see. There are many famous people buried there, although I would reccomend finding an alternative map to the one that they have there to guide you to their tombs.

4:30-6- supper at La Mere Lachaise. For whatever reason, it’s difficult to find an open restaurant in the afternoon. This was a problem because we were starving. We first looked for a restaurant under Professor Hoffmans reccomendation only to find that it no longer exists. We found only one restaurant that did not have American dishes like burgers, and there I ordered the steak, two others had salmon tartare, one had beef tartare, one a rack of pork ribs, seared duck, and roasted lamb shoulder. Tres bien.

6-????? We took the train to the Notre Dame, got lost for an hour, and then went inside. I loved the details on the inside and out. Also, when we entered an organ was playing. How much more gothic church could that be? It was beautiful. I spent a while trying to get a good picture without flash in the darkness of the church. At this point in my day, the timeline is becoming a blur. We took the train to see the Statue of Liberty, and all found it laughable. It’s podium is larger than the statue, and you can only see her backside if you want to get close enough to see her well. I would say to not bother seeing lady liberty’s cousin, she’s not as cool or fun. From that point we walked to the tour Eiffel to catch a glimpse of the lights at night. Night Eiffel Tower is something you must see. Not only are the glittery lights that come on every hour gorgeous, but the atmosphere under and around the tower was very pleasant. While some of us went to the top (it took them 2.5 hours of mostly waiting), some stayed and waited for others nearby to go back to the hotel. Waiting turned into an hour of sitting, and when they arrived, it turned into another hour of photo sessions in front of the tower.

a photo of a photo of a flea market near the restaurant

Steak, Bernaise sauce, salade, et frites at la mer lachaise

The inside of the Notre Dame