Bonjour my friends!
I just ate the most wonderful piece of pizza and pastry of my life. In Paris listening to the music of a carousel in a park beneath Sacre Coeur. Could life get any better? Yes, actually it will, in two days when I am home with friends and family but that is neither here nor there. Right now - Parisian food. Delicious. Incredible. It started with the best baguette in France two days ago and now it is all about the amazing pizza (Italy is still Numero Uno in this department but this Parisian piece is a close second). The pastry was so moist and soft and flaky with powdered sugar... heavenly. It doesn't end there. Last night I was given the generous invitation of having dinner with family friends from Florida who are currently in Paris on business. We went to a place called the Buddha Bar just near the Louvre. From the sound of the name you can assume it was a Japanese restaurant and you would be correct. But we not only ate sushi but also an orray of amazing dishes. Wonderful. The company was the best part. The last time I had seen Jim and Karen was over 10 years ago... at least. We had a great time catching up and it was so nice to have something social to do, rather than be hanging out sola. I think that is why I am as ready to come home as I am. I like to travel by myself but it gets boring... or I get bored. Museums and monuments and wonderful French food are not as enjoyable alone as they are with family and friends.
Speaking of museums... yesterday morning I went to the Louvre - one of the (if not THEE) most famous museum in the world. I'm assuming it is the BIGGEST museum in the world but I have no idea - I just couldn't imagine anything bigger. It is in a PALACE for goodness sakes. The musuem is a museum itself. Gorgeous. In order to see all 35,000 pieces of art I walked at a pretty quick pace and didn't get to see it all. At first, it was very peaceful walking through the museum with only a few other people scattered throughout. However after 1.5-2 hours of being open, the Louvre began a Disneyworld nightmare. People, tourists everywhere being loud even though it is a museum and taking crappy pictures of pieces of art they could just Google Image... I couldn't move freely throughout that museum which is enormous let alone breathe freely. Needlesstosay I got the heck out of there immediately! An experience... indeed... one that I would rather not relive... ever...
The rest of the day I wandered the streets of Paris and for a few hours enjoyed an amazing spinach and salmon quiche while reading my book and journaling in a bakery called PAUL in the Latin Quarter. Then dinner at the Buddha Bar which lasted quite late so I got to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night - stunning! Better from afar at night than in the day time close up, which is what I did today - the Eiffel Tower - the main attraction of Paris or most famous. It was... steel, lots and lots of steel. Not my favorite part of Paris but worth it. I also went to Versailles today. WOW! Talk about over the top. That King Louis XIV knows how to do it up... too bad King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would later be beheaded as a result of living a too-fabulous lifestyle among a myriad of other things. Although I did not go into the palace because I hear it is a let-down, the gardens were enough to keep me occupied for hours. They stretched for miles and miles and miles and miles. Endless. With a canal in the middle, hundreds of fountains, thousands of statues and maze-like hedges. Beautiful. I ate a sack-lunch on the banks of the canal and enjoyed my book for a few hours.... Oh to be in Paris.
So that kinda sums up my Paris experience. I have one more day in which I plan on heading back to the Montmartre District and the Latin Quarter - my favorite places. Hopefully there will be sun tomorrow but it is doubtful. Then I plan on taking a long shower tomorrow night before I wake up and hop on a 9 hour plan ride which will last technically only 2 hours... crazy concept I know. Jet-lagged I will arrive in Chicago on Wednesday.... I'm ready but I'm not ready all at the same time. I own a jumble of feelings right now. Oh the paradox of life. How philosophical. Anyways, thank you all for tuning in to my adventures across Europe. I have had the time of my life and I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my adventures every step of the way (or as close behind as possible). And don't worry I'll be back to Europe before I know it (God willing) and will be blogging about Europe again before I know it. In the meantime I hope you all continue to keep up with my blog as I will be trekking to Ocean City, New Jersey this summer for a missions trip and then this fall back to Chicago of course!
Dos besos,
Sarah
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