Living La Vie En Rose

Hello, all!

It's been an incredible first couple of days in Paris!  I can't believe we've only been here for two days--I feel like I've known the people I'm with here FOREVER and I've already taken over 100 pictures.

Hmm, so after class on Thursday we took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Louvre.  We grabbed lunch in the park in front of the Louvre then met our professor at the Pyramid (see first picture below).  We did about 45 minutes with her inside the museum, then we all wandered around until we were far too tired to do it any more (the Louvre is BIG).  After rejuvenating ourselves with pains au chocolat from a patisserie, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower and waited in the very long line to take the elevator to the top (see second picture below).  Even though I'm afraid of heights it was still incredible and amazing and beautiful.

After we were done with the Eiffel Tower we realized that we were exhausted and that we hadn't eaten a proper meal in ten hours, so we took the Metro back to the area of our hotel, only to find that almost all of the restaurants were no longer serving dinner.  I finally got a bar owner to recommend a restaurant, and when we got there the owner set us up a table.  He didn't speak much English, but between his hand gestures and my French, we managed to order the most incredible meal and a bottle of red wine for the table (see last picture below).  On the way out, he complemented me on my accent, which was also really nice.  Hopefully we'll still be able to order good food in the cities where no none of us speak the language :-/

This morning after class we went to the Ile de la Cite to see Notre Dame.  When we got there, a girls' choir was singing, which was really wonderful.  We walked all around the cathedral (although we couldn't go up considering the long line, sorry Elly) then went and ate our lunches (chicken and brie sandwiches made from the hotel continental breakfast) at the park at the end of the island.  After some more wandering--and chocolate crepes--we met our professor at the d'Orsay, which I actually enjoyed more than the Louvre.  It was such a beautiful space with such wonderful art inside.

Tonight we're going to a jazz concert downtown for our music class, then tomorrow we're getting a tour of the Opera Garnier (where the Phantom of the Opera is set) and going to the Pompidou, the modern art museum in Paris.  Sunday morning we pack up and leave for Munich!

Thats all for now, time for a nap before dinner!

Dara