Paris

Day 16 - May 26


Yay, a cool front finally came through and swept away the heat! No more sleeping in the sauna hotel. A little rain was okay compared to the 90 degree weather we'd had the past few days. We had a free day to do whatever we wanted, as the garden tour had officially ended with awesome dinner the night before. I was about gardened out anyway. All the gardens were great and I loved visiting all of them, but after 16 days, your brain can only handle so much. (Well, at least mine can only handle so much)

We set out to see more of the city of light - Champs-Elysees (lots of expensive hoity-toity shopping), the Arc de Triomphe (Napoleon's arch), Sacre Coeur Basilica (beautiful old church at the highest point in the city with an incredible view), and Notre Dame Cathedral (built in 1163 and loaded with stained glass and gothic architecture). Had lunch al fresco on the sidewalk at a nice little French cafe, and then set out to find more good food. I increased my French vocabulary to include two really good words - patisserie (French pastry shop) and fromagerie (cheese shop). Who can have too much cheese and pastries? I think none.



I was pretty much done after a day of walking the city in the rain, riding the Metro, and stressing about my un-bilingualness. I decided to stay in for the evening to pack and get ready to leave bright and early the next morning. But I needed a little something to tide me over, so roommate Robyn and I ventured to the grocery store down the street. This was one awesome store! Not like Kroger at all. Everything fresh, unprocessed, minimally packaged, and crowded with shoppers at 10pm! I found the pastry aisle easily and had a hard time choosing dessert.

Paris was nice, but I wish I wasn't so intimidated by the language barrier. A lot of people spoke English, but I still felt like I should have known more of their language and not just assumed that they'd cater to me in my ignorance. Humbling to realize that there's so much I don't know. A smile goes a long way though! It's universal.