Oh goodness!

Wow, I feel like it's been forever since I've written but I just think so much has gone on instead!

To start, this has by far been the best leg of my trip. It could be because I'm around a familiar face or that Andrew's friends are amazing or that I'm in a beautiful city or maybe a combination of all three! But it has been SUCH a great week/weekend, I will never forget it. I'll have to back up a couple days to make sure I get everything in but don't worry...it'll be worth it :)

So backing all the way up to the third night here (Friday)....like I said in an earlier post, we met up with some Fat Tire tour guides to do the Pompidou that day. I was a littttttle disappointed that I missed going to the Louvre for free that night but stopped thinking about it after a couple minutes...I'm going tomorrow so it's all good. Anyways, Andrew's friend David invited us over to his apartment, right near Musee D'Orsay and cooked stir fry for us. A lot of the tour guides live together in different apartments so many of them were there as well. It was great to have a homecooked meal for a change...and veggies too! It's hard to get my greens in here, ya know with all the good bread :) So we all had a great time eating, drinking wine, and playing cards. A very relaxing night but with so many laughs....I felt like a local being there with them all, it was awesome. We had planned on doing Fondue that night but this turned out to be a nice change of pace. Took a late cab home in the rain.



So we saved Fondue for the next night.....oh the next night! Haha :) We had a late morning and a relaxing day just hanging out. Andrew got himself a cell phone, finally, and we met up with David to go this great flea market that is in the northern part of Paris. It was in a pretty rough neighborhood but it was like 15 acres of flea market.....crazy! Of course, the insane weather in Paris had us rained on a couple of times....oh and hailed on. I swear, it will be sunny here and then 10 minutes later hail like crazy...then rain for a couple hours before returning to sunshine. It's so sporatic you cannot leave the house without your umbrella. But I'm seriously used to it now....rain on me all you want, I'm still touring this city! So we came back to the better side of town, near Notre Dame and shopped for a bit (needed some dry socks) before heading to have Fondue. Had coffee in a little cafe and tried to dry off a bit (only to get poured on again on the way to dinner). This is where the night got verrrrrrrrry interesting and GREAT!! We met up with Kelly who was also visiting another one of the tour guides and the four of us went to have fondue over near Sacre Coeur (which by the way gets an explanation of its own later on). This place.....oh this place. It is no bigger than a living room, only has 2 long tables, and serves wine out of baby bottles!! No joke, actual baby bottles (pictures above). So you're having fondue elbow to elbow with absolute strangers...oh but they're your best friends by the end of the night! So we waited outside for awhile since they don't take reservations and take you inside depending on how many people are in your group. And drinking on the streets is legal in Paris so we grabbed a bottle of wine on the way, making our wait a little more enjoyable :) We get inside...only way to get to your seat is to literally step over the table. We instantly meet our neighbors....to the left we have a group of Parisians and to the right Sergio and Grace from Portugal. Only I got in serious trouble by the French waiter for talking to our neighbors! I think I just had bad luck because everytime he came to our area to take an order or ask me a question, I was talking to them. It was just bad timing! And he was NOT nice about it....of course I'm American and that didn't help but at one point he grabbed my EAR to get my attention!! It was crazy...that's the first time I had been treated like that here....but apparantly it's a normal occurence according to Andrew. They literally ignore you when you ask for another glass of wine or for the ticket, it gets a little ridiculous. Kelly had way too much fun with the chocolate cake that was brought after fondue and wore it home! We proceeded to have the absolute best time and made so many friends there! The wine was flowing and they convinced us to come to a nightclub right next door to Moulin Rouge.....oh goodness, that's where the title of this blog comes from, haha. Of course we say yes, grab another bottle of wine for our walk there, and make our way to O'Sullivans! One of the best moments of the night...singing the Moulin Rouge song with David as we dance and take pictures right in front of Moulin Rouge. Cracks me up still thinking about it....haha :) We had a great time at the club, danced way too much and paid for it the next day! Haha it was seriously such an enjoyable night....SO many laughs that my stomach hurt incredibly bad the next day. We ended up all taking a taxi to David's place and crashed there for the night, had a little slumber party.



So I woke myself up pretty early to beeline it to Notre Dame for Easter Sunday mass. I'm SO glad I did because even though I had to wait in line and also stand in the middle of the church, it was well worth it. I didn't understand much since it was all in French but it was ok....I mainly just stood there with my mouth open, gaping at the ceiling and all there was to look at...not believing that I was actually standing there on the holiest day of the year. It was excellent :) So after that I headed back to Andrew's and we all had a lazy Easter Sunday. Got to talk to my parents a bit at night which was great! It really didn't "feel" like Easter until I talked to them and they proceeded to make me jealous telling me about all the food they were cooking. I missed homemade macaroni and cheese!!! :( Oh well, we went out to eat here and even though it didn't beat Easter dinner at home, it was great hanging out with everyone. Renee's (Andrew's roommate) brother and sister flew in from Charlotte yesterday and they joined in the fun last night. It was an early night though since they were both a bit jetlagged. We had our fun the night before so were welcoming an early night to bed.

Today was also a wonderful day...had my baghette and nutella for breakfast of course (haha my diet the past few mornings!) :) and then FINALLY did the touristy stuff....haha on my last full day in Paris! We did things in reverse here but it was fun anyways! Andrew and I met up with David for lunch again at a cafe near the Louvre. We then braved the rain and walked throught the Tuillerie Gardens, through Place de la Concorde and all the way up Champs Elysees to the Arce de Triumphe....did I mention in the pouring rain?? Haha Andrew was a trooper having done all this before (in better weather I'm sure). But we took some great pictures...in the middle of the busiest road in Paris....and found great pastries along the way. Ahhh such a touristy day, I loved it :) We met up with Renee and her siblings to see Sacre Coeur and the great view of the city it has to offer. 264 steps later, we were viewing all of Paris and the immense creation that is Sacre Coeur! Like I said, it deserved a blurb all of it's own. Took my breath away and made me cry! I don't know what it is about churches here in Europe....I get this heavy feeling in my chest inside each one and I can't figure out why. I guess I just find them so beautiful and moving because each one is so different, old, and has so much meaning. Anyways, it was definitely a highlight. We came down from the Sacre Coeur hill and found a place for some dinner and drinks. An Irish pub first and then a kebab shop for dinner...haha so random but so good for some reason. The others are going on a tour to Versailles tomorrow and I'm leaving to head to Tours, France so we came back here around midnight. Can't believe my time here in Paris is almost over because it has been so great! Still, have to move on and see more :) I'm meeting up with a friend, Janea, whom I used to work with at the YMCA tomorrow for lunch before I head out. She's studying abroad here in Paris and it'll be great to see her after all these years! I also need to fit in the Louvre and another picture or two of the Eiffel Tower during the day. I can't leave without seeing the Mona Lisa right?

Turns out I'll have a travel buddy to Barcelona, Spain on Friday! Andrew's friend David was looking to take a little weekend trip and we were both heading there at the same time....so we're taking a night train on Thursday to Barcelona for a few days. I'll stay there and head to Madrid after but it'll be great to have some company! And David is hilarious :) Can't wait and DEFINITELY can't wait for some warm weather! I'll write again when I get to Tours which will be until Thursday. Xoxo