Study Abroad Day 9: Sleeping In, Notre Dame, Passerelle des Arts & Sparkling Eiffel Tower

I just wanted to start off today by saying thank you to all of you! I have been getting lots of feedback through email and word of mouth and its all been so flattering. I'm glad you enjoy my blog and I hope to continue entertaining everyone!

Today began with an amazing nights sleep! Cal and I didn't get up until 10 because we had been up until 3:30 after Moulin Rouge. After getting ready we headed over to the mall by our hotel to get a converter for my macbook charger and grab some food. We ate at Paul, which we first ate at in Dubai and now eat at all over the world. 

Cal took a photo for dad (:

We met up with Sam and headed out to Notre Dame on the metro. We arrived and were disappointed to see an extremely long line to get into the cathedral. We decided not to go in but walk around the outside and take photos.

On our walk from the metro to Notre Dame we saw this light post, I enjoy that everywhere we go in Paris there are little details that are so beautiful:

The fountain we saw on the way to Notre Dame:

The front of the Notre Dame:

Many military airplanes flew over us as we walked around:

I absolutely love the gargoyles, many of them have different 'personalities':

The side of the Notre Dame and the statue of Pope Leo III:

We stumbled upon Passerelle des Arts (the famous lock bridge) and slowly walked around reading locks and soaking up the Parisian sun. It was interesting to see that there were still TONS of locks, but we had heard they were supposed to be taken down. We loved taking pictures here so get ready for tons (:

Notre Dame in the background:

Sister love with Passerelle des Arts & The Notre Dame:

Sam bought a lock and added it to the bridge in honor of her boyfriend:

We decided to wander around the area across the river from Notre Dame. We saw many street artists and also a bunch of little stands selling a multitude of trinkets and art. I had a conversation with a woman painting on the street. She had moved to France from Utah 20 years ago. Because she lived so close to home, we had a long conversation about green chile and four corners. It was refreshing to have a conversation about home with someone who had actually been there.

We saw a man drawing a young girl and were really impressed with his skill! Cal decided she wanted one of herself and eventually the three of us got portraits done:

Next we walked around and found a cute little patisserie. We were drawn in by the HUGE meringues in the window. As we walked in the sweet smell of treats was overwhelming:

Cal and I shared this giant pistachio meringue: 

Next we headed back out to the Champs Elysees, our goal was to get into Louis Vuitton. We ended up just wandering around and then by the time we got to Louis Vuitton it was closed. We were disappointed and needed some cheering up so we walked to Laduree and sat down for some Macaroons and Expresso.

We ordered salted carmel, lemon, tea, raspberry and vanilla macaroons. These were the best macaroons that we have had so far. I would also like to take a moment to say that his expresso is the best I've EVER had! It was so smooth I could drink 5 in a row with no problem:

Callie got hot chocolate that was so rich, it tasted like pure melted chocolate to me:

As we walked back to the metro we saw a store called Morgan, I couldn't help but take a photo:

We headed back to the hotel and dropped off our bags and switched into warmer clothing. Because the food in Paris is so expensive we decided to talk about getting some food at the mall near our hotel. We found out that Sam had never eaten Chipotle! We immediately headed to Chipotle, ordered dinner and brought it with us on our way to the Eiffel Tower. 

We sat in a park near the tower and enjoyed a meal that tasted of home. We laughed at our American dinner but it was extremely enjoyable and cheap!

Sam's first Chipotle!!!

Then we walked down towards the tower to watch it sparkle:

We headed home in a cab and went to bed! I'm sorry this post is going up late, I was exhausted last night and we had class this morning!

<3 Morg