Week-end à Paris pour mon anniversaire!

Wow! So I had an amazing weekend. That is simply it. It was absolutely the best birthday a new twenty-year-old could ask for. I got two days in Paris, two fabulous people to bond with, and the grand finale of the kindest and most thoughtful host family in France.

I spent Friday night, all Saturday, and most of Sunday with my two new favorite traveling companions, Tyler Sohl and Chad Horne. Here they are at Monmartre at the Scare-Coeur which I have to say I loved because of the atmosphere and all the touristy artists everywhere. There was a grand allure about it.



This is the view from our hotel window on a street called Le Rue Cignecourt. It was out of the way but not too much so it was perfectly close to the sights but still only friendly for French speakers.


On Saturday, we actually spent most of our time at the massive Louvre. Hence most of my photos are from there.



I had the biggest blast finding all of these pieces of art I've studied in Art History. I basically turned into Miss Tour Guide and chatted Tyler and Chad's patient ears off as I rattled off about this movement and that techinique and kept on saying, "OH! OH! Take my picture at this one, too! OH! OH!"



Hmmm. I wonder what all this chaos is for.....


Yep. Saw her, too. (Felt so sorry for the only paintings around here. So obnoxiously ignored.)

Before heading back to the relaxed streets of French-only parts of Montmartre, Chad, Tyler, and I paid a visit at sunset to a must-see in Paris.



We discovered by the end of the day that Tyler is simply a foreigner magnet. He was getting German couples and droves of Japanese girls asking to take their pictures not just at the Eiffel Tower but everywhere we went. Most curious and entertaining! (Just not really for Tyler who was getting tired of it by the Eiffel Tower)


Sunday was very low-key. We checked out of the hotel and and took the metro to cross one of the bridges to explore the islands in the middle of the Seine. Just one tiny problem stood in our way...


It turns out that there was a huge charity marathon in Paris that day. We had to take the Metro to the middle of the bigger island where one can find Notre Dame and right after lunch we visited the famous Montparnasse cemetery. As I had a train to catch at three, our stroll was short and brisk. I still got to visit who I wanted to visit the most, two of my favorite philosophers to study and they are buried together as they lived together in life.


On the way to the cemetery, we stumbled onto a real Parisian outdoor art market which occurs in Montparnasse every week. I didn't get anything. It was all really expensive.







I'd like to end with new editions to my two collections of American Things in France and French Dogs. Paris, after all, has a lot of both.



McDonald's, the new world empire, is ridculously popular and chic in France. Tyler, Chad, and I shook our head in wonder and confusion and had a McCafe while doing it. Ha! Hypocrites, we are!


And now for the grand finale of French dogs!