Au Revoir, Paris

Our last day in Paris began with another struggle to get out of bed. The weather didn't help much either, considering it was frigid and raining. However, Tori and I put on our game faces (and our rain jackets) and headed out for another day of sight-seeing. Fortunately, our morning battle with the weather was rewarded with a rainless sky by the time we reached the city. First, we started off at Sacre Coeur which is located on the top of "Montmartre"-- a hill in Paris which is the highest point of the city. The church itself was beautiful, both inside and out. We actually were there during the celebration of mass, making it that much more interesting. (I'm sure I just gained a couple of brownie points from all of those ASH teachers, haha) Needless to say, the views were incredible. Even from the steps of the church, you could see most of the city. But Tori and I got greedy and decided to make the winding ascent to the top of the dome. Despite being extremely windy, it was definitely worth it. From here, the size of the Eiffel Tower was really put into perspective. It stood WELL over every building surrounding it (Check out the picture). After Sacre Coeur, Tori and I paid a visit to the most respected areas of Paris, the Red Light District. It's not what you think, I promise. We just wanted to check out the OUTSIDE of Moulin Rouge, the famous cabaret. After our eye-opening stroll through the Red Light District, we got the picture we wanted and went on our way.

After Moulin Rouge, Tori and I headed back towards the city center to St. Chapelle. This chapel is actually housed in the courtyard of what used to be the Royal Palace. It is renowned for its HUGE stained-glass windows that depict various scenes from the Bible. Despite having really cool windows, the chapel was small and admission was over-priced. That said, we didn't spend too much time here. Our last stop of the day was Musee d'Orsay, an impressionistic museum on the other side of the river from the Louvre. This museum was much more manageable and I was much more interested in the art. I appreciated the paintings of Van Gogh and Monet much more than those in the Louvre. In addition, the museum is actually an old train station, which allowed for it to be more wide open, unlike the Louvre.

After plenty of walking and sight-seeing, Tori and I grabbed a hot chocolate from a great restaurant called Angelica's. (Definitely recommend it if you are going to Paris anytime soon) We took our hot chocolates to go, and sat in the Tuileries Gardens, watching "Paris go by". For about an hour, we sipped, talked and took our cool pictures with the Eiffel Tower. For dinner, we walked to the booths along Champs-Elysses to satisfy Tori's soup craving. After a Nutella crepe for dessert, we hopped on the Metro before taking our last glimpse of Paris.