Parfait (Perfect)

Tuesday Udara & I went back to the area where we went to Montmartre & Le mur des j'taimes.  This time we walked up the hill to La Basilique du Sacre Coeur.  First, we had lunch at the same cafe where we had quiche last time, it's so delicious and the people are so nice there! They are patient with our broken French.
We explored the square outside, there were artists all around the square.  It was interesting looking at all of the art, many of them were of the same thing (Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, etc) but had their own twist so were all different.  If they weren't so expensive I would have gotten one, they were awesome!  I guess I'll have to stick with an attempt at a replica when we get home, new art project :)
Sacre Coeur itself is beautiful.  The mosaic in the dome is a sight to see.  Overall it was a good day walking around this area in and out of the cobblestone streets.
On our way back we got some nutella flavored gelatto (yummy!)

Sacre Coeur



Skyline of Paris....and a bunch of photobombers

On the walk back to the metro

Tonight we went to Champs-Elysees for dinner.  Udara's uncle is the chef at a Japanese Barbecue and we had a feast there!  I have only had Japanese food a few times so it was a nice change.  I love trying new foods.  I ate raw fish for the first time, and personally dismembered my own shrimp.  I'm forcing myself to do things I wouldn't at home...one of them trying lots of new foods I wouldn't necessarily choose.  Overall the meal was delicious and it was fun barbecuing it ourselves.

Miso soup, sushi, barbecued pork, fish & beef.

When we went to the bathroom after the meal it had a (very) little room for waiting and then the separate male & female stall.  We were in there by ourselves so we used both.  A young boy came in after Nishadie came out of the men's stall, he looked at her really funny so it was pretty amusing.  An older man pushed open the door and it hit me in the back, so he stopped.  I moved & opened the door and he stared at me, dumbfounded.  I told him in French it was for both..and he still stared for a second before he realized what I said.  After Udara was fixing her hair in the mirror & the guy said (apparently very creepily) 'parfait.'  

Udara, Nishu and I walked to l'arc de Triomphe. We had to walk underground because the arch is in the middle of a roundabout.  We realized in the tunnel you had to pay to get up there so we skipped that and took pictures from the other street. 

L'arc de Triomphe

At home with Udara's aunt & uncle

Yesterday we went shopping and to a place called La Defense, on the outskirts of Paris.  It is the last stop on the 1 metro line.  It was a little bit of an eerie place with a huge open area surrounded by tall buildings made of windows which were partially businesses, partially mall.  Yesterday night we saw The Bling Ring with Emma Watson.  I didn't think it was a very good movie, and it is yet another movie that makes American teenagers look horrible.

Setting of a dystopian novel?

thumb?

Not sure yet what we are doing today, maybe back to Pont des Arts to add our lock!
Tomorrow we are probably going to go to La Jardin du Luxembourg & the Louvre.  The Louvre is free Fridays from 6-945 :)



Paris is always a good idea.

So last night before dinner Udara and I went wandering around and ended up at The Eiffel Tower (and used the metro for the first time to get there)  It is a very easy system which we bought a week pass for so we will be using it a lot.  We will be exploring Paris first then going off to do all of our day trips like Versailles, Giverny & Mont St Michel so we can get full use of the pass!
We were at the Eiffel Tower right around sunset (9:30PM) and it was the perfect sight to visit first.  I had forgotten how amazing the tower really is in person.

Today was a very long and adventure filled day.  We took the metro to Montmartre church and walked around that area, in boutiques (window shopping....mostly). 
We also found a nice bakery for lunch where we had three cheese quiche.  I am proud to say we ordered completely in French!  We have been doing pretty well overall with speaking French...understanding is a different story though, sometimes they speak too fast!  We found a park to sit in and eat our quiche and noticed that a lot of people were stopping by and taking pictures of the mural next to us.  We looked closer and realized it was a mural of "I love you" in A LOT of languages, we found English, French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, and even Sinhala (Udara's home language.)

After Montmartre area we took the metro to see Moulin Rouge, last time I was in Paris with school they made sure to steer us clear of this area...I wonder why ;)? 
When we were in this area I had to use the bathroom so we went to Starbucks because we hadn't seen any public restrooms anywhere...I bought some random pastry for the bathroom code.  We get through the first door and there is another door.  We have learned our lesson about letting doors close behind us (see post: trapped in a lobby) So I kept the door open while Udara tried to open the second door.  Then she says "...Maybe you have to close the first door?"  Alright, here goes nothing.  I close the first door and the second door doesn't open.  So Udara tries to open it again, then we realize....awkward.....it's a one stall bathroom and Udara is trying REALLY hard to open the door.  So we laugh and wait...and wait...another man comes in to get in line.  We wait some more.  He asks us in French, "Are they sleeping?"  Udara: "Hmm...maybe..." Wait some more..."Are they dead?"  Udara: "I hope not...."  Not dead or sleeping....but an amusing conversation in French nonetheless.

After we came home for dinner we went out again and walked around the streets by Champs-Elysees.  Lots of cool views and pictures of the Eiffel Tower!  I LOVE PARIS!  And our time here has only begun :)

We also found out going to a movie is only five euros, so maybe I won't be missing all the good summer movies!