Thusdays Away From Home

Today was one of the most amazing times spent in the city thus far. The weather cleared and was bright, sunny, and warm for the first time since I arrived. (So far, the sun has only peaked out for a few hours at a time). Theresa and I decided that it was the right day for an impromptu visit to Sacre Coeur. It’s on a little mountain about ten minutes away from her apartment. I had seen the church from all of the amazing heights we have climbed, but not up close. First we start walking uphill on streets, then began the stairs. As we got higher and higher, a whole new city opened up in front of me. It was unlike the city so close below. There was a completely different atmosphere… it was amazing. We toured the amazing church and the area outside of it. There was a strange sense of calm that came over me upon entering the church. It was far more intimate, even though everything inside was grand and ridiculously beautiful. There were no cameras or admission fees, just nuns and little girls praying in front of every saintly idol. (I love guessing what kids pray for, especially when they really get into it). We toured the artists’ square after leaving the church. The square is located in the mountain as well. The artwork was amazing and amazingly overpriced. Men lined the streets and began to draw portraits promising to “make you look beautiful” for the hefty fee of a few dozen euros. This little mountain town struck me as the Petoskey of Paris. It’s funny, but I’ve found a way to relate many aspects of Paris to locations and feelings I have at home. Theresa had her French final today so after leaving the mountain we jumped on a metro and headed to the school. After her final, we went into the computer lab to pull together a last minute trip to London. We managed to book a train ride there, hotel, and bus ride back to Paris. We both felt so accomplished afterwards because we were not entirely positive we were going to pull it off in such a short period of time. We were supposed to meet some other students for dinner, but missed the reservation because of our travel planning. We headed out towards the Eiffel Tower instead. As we got off of the metro in front of the Eiffel Tower, the clock struck ten and the lights started sparkling. It was amazing! It was the most perfect timing! We stopped and had dinner at a small Italian café and continued on towards the tower. Again, the tower started sparkling. After standing in front of it for a long while, we stopped at the crepe and ice cream stand. There I was again, in a moment I thought could never exist or at least would have never dreamt of… eating pistachio ice cream with my best friend, standing next to the Seine and staring at the sparkling Eiffel Tower.