Merci Paris!

Time sure flies! I can not believe that it has taken me this long to complete this blog. I know my mom has heard from some of you and how antsy you all have been to hear the conclusion of our adventure. Well if you hung in there, I thank you very much. If not, as I'm sure are the majority, I understand that odds are you already talked to my mom and heard the conclusion. But here is my version!

First order of business was to settle into our Parisian apartment! That's right we had a two bedroom very spacious and roomy apartment in Paris (and I'm not being sarcastic about how big it was). Our first night in Paris Cari and her husband Benoit brought over Pizza Hut pizza, which was surprisingly yummy!


The next day I was awoken by an early (I think it was around 9:30am) phone call. It was Cari, and she wanted her mom. But Cari, I said, your mom is asleep. Wake her up, was Cari's reply, I cut myself in cooking school and am headed to the hospital. So wake her up is exactly what I did!


After Cari recieved a few stitches in her thumb we all met up at Notre Dame Cathedral. It was absolutely stunning. Even the detail on the outside of the church was so neat. The inside was, of course, beautiful as well. Then we had our first Parisian meal in a little cafe on the street. I got an omelet, that was absolutely delicious. So far the eating in this country was a lot easier than the last couple.


Then we took the metro to Montmartre. This is a hill that on the very top has this incredible church called Sacré-Coeur Basilica, or Sacred Heart church. We could see the church off in the distance from our apartment, and it looked incredibly fake. Up close, it still looked incredibly fake. However, this turned out to be one of my favorite places that we visited, because it is where they filmed the majority of the movie Amelie. I had suspected this while we were there, but did not want to say it out loud and seem like the obnoxious American who was relating a historical site to the only French movie she had seen. Still I was very excited when Benoit confirmed this a few nights later at dinner.

This hill is also where all the artists are set up. So after touring the church we walked to where all the artists where set up and scoped out the perfect piece to take home with us. Mom and I landed on an adorable older Frech artist, whose name was, you guessed it, Pierre. Pierre had a great little studio about five minutes away from the main area, and we had to go to it so we could pay with our credit cards. As he led me and my mom there, he would turn around every minute or so and tell us, only four more minutes, only three more, only two more, until we were there. It was so much fun.

Lastly, we walked down the other side of the hill and got to see the Moulin Rouge. We took some silly pictures in front of it and then headed back to the apartment. We were lucky enough to have a full kitchen so our resident chef (Cari), and her new sous chef (me), could prepare a delicious meal. And when I say sous chef I mean I stood around, in her way, in the kitchen and watched her work!


The next day was our big adventure day. We took the metro once the entire day, and then walked the rest. We saw the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triumph (where we saw some of the most insane driving), we walked the Champs Elysee, toured the hospital de invalides (or something like that), where Napolean is buried, walked along the Seine River to the Louvre, and then toured some of the famous, and not famous art there. After twenty-five thousand steps (mom brought her pedometer) we sank into bed that night and slept great!






















The following day we took it easy and slept in. Mom and I went to the Rodin Museum, while Emily and dad stayed at the apartment because Emily wasn't feeling well. After the Rodin Museum we swung back at the aprtment, picked up Emily and Dad and met up with Cari and JoAnn at Anglina's Tea Room where we had afternoon tea. Then we did some souvenir shopping and went back to the apartment, where once again Cari prepared us a delicious meal.

The following day was very laid back. We slept in, and then picked up baguette sandwhiches and had lunch in the beautiful gardens by our apartment. It was truly a Parisian day. Or at least a tourist in Paris day!

Then came the traveling home day. It started with our cab picking us up very early in the morning. We flew from Paris to London, London to Chicago, and Chicago to home. We had some of the longest layovers, and actually were delayed a few hours in Chicago. Basically, if I put it in terms of the time at home we were traveling from 4:30 Friday afternoon, and arrived home at midnight Saturday night (or Sunday morning depening on how you look at it). But it didn't matter because we were finally home.

And guess what? That's the end, there isn't anymore.