DAY FOUR!!!

By day four, we were definitely in the swing of things.  We had all gotten up by 9am and ate breakfast and showered by 11:00am.  So for once, we started our day before noon.  We went to the Notre Dame and actually walked inside and appreciated its hugeness and the amazing stain glass windows.  Then, we climbed the towers of the Notre Dame to the very top.  Another zillion step spiral staircase. (The French clearly like their tall spiral staircases)!  It had a great view of the city so it assured me that my decision to not waste money climbing the Eiffel Tower was the right one.

After the Notre Dame, we took a couple of metros to a very sketchy part of Paris.  Now this was the REAL Paris.  Graffiti abound, sketchy characters everywhere, holding your bag close to you so that it doesn’t get stolen, crazy street vendors, etc.  We walked through without making eye contact with anyone and looked very focused.  We knew that we were not taking that street back to the metro station.

We were headed to the Sacre Coeur (sacred heart) which is another famous cathedral in Paris.  It is on top of a big hill.  Alas, lots more steps!  Totally worth it, because it too had a great view of the city.  Cameras weren’t allowed in the cathedral which was kind of lame, but I made sure to light a candle when I was inside. (although I’m not Catholic).

We got lunch in that area and had really good food served by a rather attractive waiter.

On our way back, we decided to stop at the Concord instead of going home and Trang transferred to another train to meet her friend.  Shelby and I took pictures of the Obelisk and tried to cool down by the fountains. 

The museum that we wanted to go to was already closed for the day so that was a bust.  Then we didn’t really feel up to our back up plan.  So we went into the Louvre to go to the bathroom while we decided what to do.  This was the most interesting bathroom experience I have ever had.  We had to pay to use the bathroom… no big deal I guess… except that there were rolls of toilet paper in every color sitting on the walls.  When I went to the back, a man opened the door to a stall and guided me into the nicest bathroom stall I have ever seen in my life.  I stared at him and the door in utter confusion… why is this guy assigning a stall to me?  and is that guy going in the stall next to mine? They weren’t just any kind of stalls. NO!  They were like small rooms with toilets in them. Full doors and three walls. CRAZINESS.

Yes, those are different colored toilet papers

We decided to just stay at the Louvre food court and get coffee and dessert.  So I have officially tried my first coffee.  We ordered a cappuccino and a cappuccino noisette (hazelnut).  The cappuccino obviously tasted just like strong coffee (or what I assumed it would taste like).  Oh but the cappuccino noisette was amazing!

On our way back to the hostel, I had dropped my jacket and didn’t realize.  A rather attractive French guy picked it up, caught up to me and returned it.  So all of you who think the French are rude… clearly they are not.

I also discovered 6 bug bites on my legs and it has been ridiculously hot all week! FABULOUS!