Tuesday

Monday night, Nicolas and I took the five o'clock TGV (Train a Grand Vitesse) to Paris! We arrived an hour later when we headed to Anne's apartment in the tenth arrondissement. Once we dropped off our bags, I followed Nicolas onto the metro, and we arrived at Notre Dame. From there we walked around for half an hour or so and then headed back to get a good night's sleep.
We had a rather late start yesterday morning at around ten. So, we headed over to Les Halles, browsed for a bit, and met Franck for lunch. After lunch I pretty much just trailed behind Nicolas like a dog. All I know is that we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Quartier Latin, admiring beautiful architecture. I have no clue what I saw for the most part, I just know that it was all beautiful. I don't even mind that I don't know because I was just so overjoyed to be in Paris!
When darkness fell, Nicolas and I took the metro to see the Eiffel Tower from a vantage point. Unfortunately, fog had settled in, so in the pictures I took, only the bottom half of the tower is visible. After that I had the choice to either go to Montmartre and see Paris from a view or to promenade around the Christmas market below the Eiffel Tower. I chose to go to see the Sacre Coeur because I had never been before, and who wouldn't want to see a great view of Paris?
We took the metro for a quarter of an hour. When we arrived at the foot of Montmartre, I looked up at what seemed like fifty sets of stairs leading straight up. Let me just state that my legs were already tired from walking around all day long. Right beside those stairs, on the other hand, was a lift. As I looked yearningly towards the lift, Nicolas asked me if I had "the courage" to climb the stairs. Ugh! Of course if he words it that way, I have to answer in the affirmative! So, I climbed the 225 steps two at a time with a bounce! Well, my bounce left after the first set of stairs, but I have discovered that it is impossible for me to climb stairs any other way but two at a time. So, I reached the top exhausted and out of breath, but feigning boredom and comfort.
Of course, after coming all that way, the fog was too thick to see anything. I then decided to climb a few more steps to actually walk into Sacre Coeur, the church. Oh my goodness, if I thought the facade looked magnificent, the interieur was breathtaking. There was a mass going on, so we did not stay a long time, but I would certainly consider becoming a nun if I could worship there every day!
Because we both like old movies and neither of us had ever seen it before, Nicolas and I watched the movie Footloose. Unfortunately for him, the remote broke; consequently, he looked at the pretty pictures and I understood every single word of English spoken.