CREPES!

On our second day in Europe, we had about 6 hours of free time to explore the city, and from what I saw the night before, 6 hours was not going to be nearly enough. Paris is huge! But our tour manager, Ryan gave us a lot of tips about what to see and how to get there, which helped out a lot. So, first we went back to the Eiffel Tower to get some key daytime pictures and see it one last time. It was a lengthy walk from where the coach dropped us, but it was a beautiful day, and walking in Paris is always eye-pleasing, so I didn't mind. Plus, it gave me some time to get to know some of the other people on the trip.

From the Eiffel tower, we walked to The Arc de Triumph. We got a little lost along the way, but we came upon a friendly French guy who sent us in the right direction. I have to admit, I was surprised to see a French person being helpful, because up to this point, I have had a pretty bad impression of the French. Anyhoo, we got to the Arc De Triumph safe and sound and took some pictures.

After that, we walked down the Champs Elysee, which is where a lot of the higher-end shopping is. Although all the stores were way out of my price range, it was if nothing else, a good place for people watching. From there we took the metro to Sacre Coure. Sacre Coure was extremely cool. It was quite the feat to get up the hill to the church, but once we were up there, it was worth it. Behind the church (what the name of the church is, I have no idea) there is a little area of cafes and lots and lots of artists. Many of them just stand around and wait to have a person sit for them. One artist in particular must have found me to be a good sitting model because he tried desperately to get me to pose for him. It was flattering yet somewhat creepy.

We got crepes for lunch. I feel that this deserves its own paragraph because the crepes were absolutely perfect. I got mine with ham, cheese and mushrooms, and I also got a coke. I can not put into words how good of a meal this was, and how perfectly it hit the spot. I could have walked around for hours eating my crepe and browsing through all the paintings and drawings being sold.

After getting back into the city, we had some time to kill before we had to be on the coach, so Caitlin and I sat down outside the Musea D'Orsay and had a cigarette. It just seemed so fitting to the city and to the moment. I had a great afternoon in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but the night to come had much in store for me...