Finalmente! Questo film...

I've been meaning to post this short video for a really, really long time! It's pretty funny, and quite true, or so I've heard. I don't know about some of it from personal experience. So, enjoy:

Paris at Christmas Time

Okay, at least one more thing. Since Becky has posted something about our trip to Paris, I must now do the same for the sake of our non-existent competition. If we were competing over posts, I think Becky would win by default since she has about a hundred more than I do. But oh well, I'll still write something about our trip to Paris! We had a really awesome time and did nearly everything we'd wanted to do, which is nearly a miracle considering that we had about three and a half days and none of us speak French. Though it did help that a lot of the signs were written in French and English and that a lot of the people spoke at least a little bit of English. However, we're still going to pretend that we managed to do all we did through much trial and tribulation. That way I feel accomplished!

Sunday evening, after we arrived and got settled in the hostel, we walked around and ended up finding our way to the Church of the Sacred Heart, or in francese, la Basilique du Sacré-Coeur. The church was positively breathtaking, and after we'd looked around inside for a bit, some nuns came out and started singing, so it felt like a little piece of heaven and its splendor. Or at least that's what I like to think!

La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur

The next day, which was Monday, we left early in the morning (well, 9:00 at least) for the Louvre. We spent THE ENTIRE DAY walking THE ENTIRE LOUVRE. We were there for about 9 hours, and we literally walked the entire museum. And I actually remember some of the things I saw! Maybe because I took pictures...

Cupid and Psyche

So, after the Louvre we walked toward a big ferris wheel that we could see from the museum and that I hoped would be a carnival. Sadly, it was only the ferris wheel. But we walked through a pretty park, and the ferris wheel was near this big intersection with an obelisk and lots of other cool stuff that I suspect were famous and took pictures of. I also took a lot of pictures of the ferris wheel, which I suspect I was a little obsessed with.

My obsession :oD

The next day (after a very well-deserved and restful night of sleep!) we started with an attempt to see the Bastille. I don't even know exactly what we should have been looking for (a prison of some kind?) or whether it's still around, but I guess I'll never know since we didn't find it! We did, however, find our way to one of Victor Hugo's houses. They had a little museum inside (as expected) and it was free! Hooray for free things! It was actually quite a nice little display, too. After we finished there, we started our rather long walk to Notre Dame, and on the way we stopped in at least one other church, and I also saw a store named after me! Or at least coincidentally with the same name. I don't know anyone in Paris, so somehow I doubt it was named after me. Unfortunately. Notre Dame was everything it's cracked up to be. The stained-glass windows were positively amazing, and they had music playing (or possibly even live) there, too. Between the Gregorian chanting--I'm not really sure that's the right type of music, but we'll pretend it is--and the colorful rays of light, I was in awe. Even among all of the crowds of people and busyness in the church, it still felt like a holy place. I left the cathedral feeling blessed.

The square that contains the house of Victor Hugo

I think we're going to be very good friends...

The back of Notre Dame; unfortunately the picture I took of the front got lost because my camera was being stupid. So, you'll just have to settle yourselves with this one till I get pictures from Sean. And hope that he took some of the front.

Looking at one of the stained-glass windows with a weird reflection on the camera

I didn't feel so blessed for long, though, when we started climbing the Eiffel Tower an hour or two later! I recalled vividly my fear of heights about an eighth of the way up to the first floor, and we were on the stairs. However, thanks to the encouragement of Becky and Sean, and thanks to very sturdy metal railings, I made it up to the second floor with them, which was as high as we could go on foot. And the view was definitely worth it! We walked up right about at sunset, so we got to see the city in daylight and then also in the dark. Beautiful!

On the way there

Me on the Eiffel Tower, 2nd floor (I think) during the light show - sparkly! :o)

Beautiful sunset over Paris

After we climbed carefully back down the tower, we took the metro part of the way home and stopped at Moulin Rouge to see it in the dark, since Keturah had told me that it's not that impressive, but definitely better at night. I thought it was a little impressive, but I am glad that we went at night. It was in a halfway-sleazy part of town, though. It was a bit surreal because half of the stores around it were sex shops, but there were also normal stores interspersed between them, and most of the people walking around were families or older, distinguished, or normal people. Weird. Anyway, after that, we went back and eventually got to bed.

Bright lights, big city...I never did get what was with the windmill, though

The next morning, we got out of bed and packed up everything. Fortunately, we were able to leave our luggage at the hostel for the day so we could tour around on our last day without dragging our bags behind us. Our first stop for the day was the Church of the Sacred Heart again for daytime pictures. After that, took the metro to l'Hotel des Invalides and the tomb of Napoleon, which was really big and impressive and covered in gold. After a bit of exploring there, we walked to the Petit Palais and went inside for some time to look around. The Petit Palais had some really nice artwork, and again this museum was free, at least for the permanent collection. After that we walked to the Palais Garnier Opera House, stopping at another pretty church on the way. The Opera House is where the Phantom of the Opera was set. We did have to pay to get in there, but I think it was worth it! The staircase was certainly grand, and so was this really cool foyer. After that, we raced back to the hostel for our bags and took the metro to the Arch of Triumph, or l'Arc de Triomphe. We only took enough time to get some pictures before running to catch the bus back to the airport. After a long trip home, that was the end of my trip to Paris! I really loved the city. Paris is gorgeous! I'm really glad I went.

Becky and I in front of the Church of the Sacred Heart

La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in the daylight

Everybody has fun at l'Hotel des Invalides!

We could be twins. Except that he's in marble. And I'm much cooler. Literally (notice the red nose).

If Napoleon had commissioned this for himself, I would have thought he was conceited. Very impressive!

Palais Garnier - Angel of Music? :o)

Sean, Becky and me on one of the balconies overlooking the grand staircase

Below the grand staircase

Goodbye, Paris! L'Arc de Triomphe

So, in summary of this huge post (my longest yet), these are the things from my checklist of Paris that I got to do:

1. Saw the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur

2. Walked the entire Louvre

3. Went inside the house of Victor Hugo

4. Saw Notre Dame

5. Climbed the Eiffel Tower and saw it in day and night

6. Posed in front of Moulin Rouge

7. Walked down the stairs in front of the Sacré-Coeur that are in the movie Amelie

8. Went to the Hotel des Invalides and Napoleon's tomb

9. Went inside the Petit Palais

10. Went to the Opera Garnier

11. Took a picture on the grand staircase from the Phantom of the Opera

12. Saw the Arc de Triomphe

Plus a lot of extras. And all this in only three and a half days. We must have superhuman powers. :oP THE END!!!

Merry (Late) Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas even if it is a little late. Or, in Italian, Buon Natale!

Here everyone is definitely still celebrating Christmas. Becky and I went out for a walk this evening and found that nearly everything is closed. There were quite a few families and older couples out walking, too, but no one was out to shop or run errands. After wandering around near the school since we couldn't buy bus passes (mine is completely used up and Becky left hers in the room, which is also almost finished), we finally found a bar (a café in Italy) that was open and decided to stop for a couple of caffè (coffees). There were a total of four people inside, including us. It was nice, though, because we could speak in Italian (a little bit) and not feel quite as stupid as we usually would. After that we walked back to the school in a roundabout direction. And I'm writing all of this just to have something to write! I've been busy lately, but not with anything really newsworthy. I'm sure everyone really wants to hear about how I hand washed my clothes this afternoon and all of the little things like that. So, here's another post. Finally. About almost nothing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :o)

Oh, and here are a few pictures I took on our little outing today, since I've decided to chronicle everything I do in pictures. Well, nearly everything.

Some mannequins making weird faces that made Becky and I laugh.

Becky and I copying the mannequins. I think we look prettier than they do! :o)

Che bellissimo sunset!

Oh, and what beautiful girls, too! ;o)

And now that's the end for now! Maybe one of my New Year's resolutions will be to update my blog more often, though. We'll see! Ciao everyone!