Trip to Paris

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Hello again,
I thought I would update you and fill you in on my trip to Paris. Me and five other girls headed off on the train to Paris for three days because we figured we would take off somewhere since classes did not start until this Monday. So we headed off on the train, and it only takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to Paris from Rouen so I imagine I will be going to Paris often. Anyway, the first thing we did was head to the Basilique de Sacre Coeur. This is an amazing church and it is up on a hill so you get a great view of the city. However, the only downside of this tourist site is the men who stand atthe bottom of the church steps and try to tie these bracelets on your arm and then make you pay for them. You literally have to push them away! That night we went to this cute little vegetarian restaurant called Piccolo Teatro that had a very small menu but was VERY good- MJ you would have loved it!!! The next day we did some intense touring and saw Pont Neuf- a falous bridge and recently more fanous for being a make-out spot for the young Paris folk. We also went to the Musee Dorsay where we saw the works of Monet, Renoir, Degas and many more great artists. In our walking about the town we came across a temporary exhibit on a famous French cartoonist- it was free so we figured we should check it out. It was actually really neat- this cartoonist did drawings of all the famous Paris sites and pictures of Paris life, I really enjoyed this.! Ok, moving on...we of course saw the Eiffel Tower during the day and all lit up at night. I am convinced you can never see this structure too many times. We walked up qnd down the Champs-Elysées and checked out all the shops- and of course made a few purchases since it is sale season here!!! There are shoe stores everywhere and Ihave already taken advantage of them. It is fabulous! Once you get to the end of the Champs-Elysées you see the beautiful Arc de Triomphe. again a site in Paris you cannot see too many times! While we were in Paris we took full advantage of the crepe stands!!! Although we did go to so,e very good restaurants while we were there, the Parisians DO NOT eat our North American sized portions so we frequently headed for a crepe for dessert after supper! Our last night in Paris was spent in a gay bar. We decided to stay in the area close to our hostel and we walked past a nice little bar that looked like it had a great relaxed atmosphere, so we decided to go in. It waas soon clear it was a gay bar but we didn't care we stayed for a drink and the gay men in the bar were very nice so it was good times!!! Alright, well that about sums it up- Paris was great and I will write again really soon about school life here in Rouen. There are many differences from home!!! Talk to you all soon.

Take care,
Lindsay

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Photos

Shoes!!!
Me in front of a shoe store named Lindsay- fitting seeing as how it seems I will be buying a few pairs here since every second store is a shoe store!

Skating rink outside Hotel de Ville
This was so cool! There was this huge outdoor skating rink set up outside and it was all lit up and they were playing music and everything.

Pont Neuf Bridge
This is the make out bridge. hahaha

At the Bar
A bunch of us out for a drink.

McCafe
I thought this was hilarious!!! On one of the main streets in Paris the Champs Elysees- there is a Mcdonalds and inside there is a McCafe serving traditional French pastries.