Weekend fun!

5/31/13

I woke up early to go to the Pantheon. Unfortunately, my friends wanted to sleep in so I ventured out by myself! As I was walking to the Pantheon, I stumbled upon a little church called Saint – Etienne – du- Mont. It was free so I decided to take a quick glance inside. There were a lot of stained glass windows that were exquisite and overall it was very pretty! Kiddy corner to this church was the pantheon. The dome of the pantheon was being worked on, and when I read about it, it said that it would be restored over a span of 10 years and would cost 100 million euro! The inside was still very nice however. It was a lot larger than it looked from the outside. There was artwork, sculptures, and amazing coliseums everywhere but the really cool and interesting part was the crypt. Downstairs there were several tombs for really important people such as victor Hugo. It’s really prestigious to be buried here, and it was very cool because there were fresh flowers on some of the tombs. This just shows how people look at and respect some of “France’s finest”. After that I met up with some of my friends for lunch. We wanted to go to the Notre dame but the line was too long so we decided to go back another day. We ended up going to the consiergerie however which is an old prison that jailed King Louis the 16 and Marie Antoinette. It was very cool to see the cells that they stayed in. Afterwards, I did a little shopping at les Halles and then headed home to rest before dinner!

I ended up dining at the Restaurant Au Pere Louis with my Iowa friends. It was quite late when we got there, but we still made a good night out of it by splitting a bottle of wine. We also decided to be adventurous and try some escargot. It was quite interesting and I’m glad I tried it, but I probably won’t be ordering that again! As we were finishing up our drinks we started talking with some other Parisians. They said they were going out too and brought us to a local bar. We had a drink there, danced and then left just in time to take the last metro. It was quite an enjoyable night, filled with lots of friends, wine and good memories!

6/1/2013

I met up with Alix, (our former exchange student) for lunch. We ate at a restaurant around where she lived and had a typical Parisian lunch which consisted of chardonnay, foie gras, and a café (coffee) to finish. It was so nice getting to see Alix considering the last time I saw her I was still 13! We walked to Pere Lachaise which is a very famous cemetery and nearby her apartment. I know it might sound odd to visit a cemetery, but it truly was very beautiful! Several famous writers, singers, etc are buried here and so the tombs and mausoleums are very grand and beautiful. Each grave and tomb was really a work of art, and combined with the beautiful greenery of the trees and grass it really is an enchanting place. It’s extremely large however, and Alix told me that it’s very easy and common to get lost in the cemetery. (That’s how large and extravagant everything is!) Alix then showed me her apartment which is very close to the business school that she’s currently attending. She showed me around her neighborhood and areas such as place des Vosges as well. It was finally sunny, so it was great to walk the streets and take in all the beauty that Paris offers. We then went and did a little shopping and had some macaroons and drinks! It truly was a lovely day, by far one of the best day’s I’ve spent in Paris!