Pour cette poste, j’ai pensé que je voudrais écrire en français. But then I remembered that auto correct won’t fix my grammar in French.
Saturday, I woke up in the morning with pain in my legs. We had walked very far the day before and now I was going to pay for it. First thing first, obviously…. We needed to find some coffee and French pastries. Done and done. I had my favourite Pain au raisin and un café au lait avec soja.
After my companion was saved by my being properly fed and caffeinated, we felt it safe to venture out. We took a chilly but beautiful boat trip down the Seine and saw all the sights from the water.
We hopped off at Notre Dame and had a beautiful stroll around the most beautiful church. Good for the soul, though the tourists who wouldn’t be quiet and respect their request for silence really annoyed me. It really is a lovely church, and celebrating it’s 850 year anniversary this year.
On our way to the Louvre, we stopped at a very romantic and beautiful bridge covered in locks. The idea is that you go with your lover, write your names on the lock, lock it to the bridge and then throw the key in the river. Dan and I were both tempted to put up a friendship lock but decided it would be more special if we saved it for, you know, the one.
We got lost in the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and many other treasures of antiquity. It’s really a masterpiece itself and was lovely to make a return visit.
After that, the Musée de l’orangerie to see a huge and beautiful Monet mural. That was nice, although I hardly felt welcome after my companion got in for free with his EU ID. Making the Canadian pay… Hardly hospitable.
We walked all through beautiful courtyards and down the Champs-Élysée where we had another lunch in the fashion of the first one. A quick view of the Arc de Triomophe (constructed for Napoleon but not completed before his death) and then the growing “snow storm” forced us home. (Snow storm is in quotation marks because I’m Canadian… I mean seriously).
We rested our legs, warmed up, and then headed back out into the night! I almost didn’t go, I almost couldn’t tear myself from the warm bed but luckily my friend Dan was there to encourage me. I’m glad he did because our efforts were rewarded.
The plan was to head up to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. The highest point in the city (trust me, I walked up the hill) with a view that can’t be beat. This was another thing I didn’t really do at night during my last visit. Winding through the back streets of quaint and old looking Paris was lovely enough in the evening. As we walked up toward the church we had to join a massive cue of parishioners with Candles singing beautiful French hymns. It’s very hard to translate from a song, especially a hymn, but I caught “I come to you lord Jesus”. They were carrying a wooden Mary, I think, all the way to the church. They stopped to sing a bit outside the church and then went in. It was absolutely magical, looking out over the city, sparkling below, with the breathtaking church, candle light and French hymns in the background. This is my second favourite memory from this trip…
Finally, a stroll through Monmartre, the nearby red light district. Which wasn’t that interesting; too cold for the girls to be outside I guess. We had dinner, another nice little restaurant, more wine, crêpes for dessert. A beautiful thing really. Even after assuring ourselves we’d have an early night, we crawled into bed after midnight, again!
Diamond's Year Abroad 