Campanile - Paris - Saint-Denis St-Denis

... Nico va pouvoir rester dans la 3 e chambre, chambre française de vielles armoires en bois. Y a pas de trouble. On a droit à plus de luxe qu'on pourra se payer dans toute notre foutue vie ici: des petits tapis turcs, des fauteuils louis 16e, une bibliotheque remplie de bouquins hyper interessants. Y a de la place en masse pour dormir, en plus la coloc part le 16 décembre. Checkez les pics. Certains d'entre vous serons là bientot!

... 4 Euro cafe au lait at a Paris cafe (that's about $6 US...and it comes in a small mug). So, a tip for all of you who may one day drink something in Paris: Get it at the local grocery, not from a street vendor or cafe. And bring a water bottle for the tap. No one has told me how the French ladies keep such a small waistline. I have only one theory: its because their tummies are so happy all the time.

I walk my favorite paths and smile. I decided to take a walk up to Sacre Coeur. This is a beautiful white church that is found on the top of Montmartre. From the church you have a vantage point of the city below. This is also where many artists convened in those days of impressionism, so you can imagine Monet and his buddies getting a drink, painting, chatting and flirting with the women up here on Montmartre. I was hungry ...

... but didnt go up as we were running out of time. It was huge as well, you don't realize how big it is until you actually see it. We then caught the metro to the notre damn cathedral, but the lines were too big to go up it. After all the sight seeing we went home for a bit to drink before going on a pub crawl, the pub crawl was a bit of a joke, there was only five of us and the drinks were stupidly expensive. Met a few English speaking people which was great.

... I had been accepted to the College of William and Mary. A friend and I took a bottle of champagne to the top of the tower and drank it there in celebration. There were no crowds, and it was a fantastic time. Now I can't bear the crowds. As we meet up with Maxime and the rest of our group, I bow out and go for a lovely solitary walk through the Champs de Mars and the 7th Arrondissement. I pass high walls and iron gates, and wonder who lives beyond and what the interior looks ...

... pasta; I really don't remember the food, it was that bland. We did meet a lovely family with whom we passed a good time, so we focused on them. Our second champagnerie at Castellane Cellars was another trip through cool tunnels, another description of disgorgement (the way the sediment is removed from the wine before it is set to ferment for bubbles, more or less), and another yummy tasting. This time I bought a bottle of champagne. I ...

... to be here! Many flower gardens surround the area. Here is a bit of detail of only one of them The LÓrangerie Jardin des Tuileries has held Monet's Les Nympheas paintings since 1927. Monet gave these to France. The paintings are a series of dawn to sunset of the ponds, trees, and water flowers at Giverny. They are in two oval rooms. And ...

... And from there we took the metro over to the Arc de Triomphe and saw the tomb of the unknown soldier with the eternal flame. Then on to the Eiffel Tower, finally! It had stopped raining, but unfortunately it was still cold and overcast so I missed out on the pretty aerial pictures of Paris. The lines were really long and slow, but we met a cool Aussie guy to bond with. Apparently he can tell who the Americans are by their extremely straight teeth. He was shocked when we told ...

... where the Mona Lisa painting is kept is heavily guarded, and I laughed when a security guard snapped when he thought I was taking a picture of the painting. I proceeded to tell him that it was a garbage painting (in French) and I wouldn't even take a picture of it if it was allowed. He was ******, one could tell that he lacks a life and probably masterbates to Mona Lisa before sleeping every night. I have never understood all the ...

... depicts a different perspective, and all are displayed next to another. There were also some great Van Gogh works, and I plan on seeing more when I travel to Amsterdam in a few days. After the D'Orsay, I went to the Arch de Triomphe which Napoloen started as a way to commemorate his great Army victories, but he was kicked out of France during its construction so its purpose changed, and then changed back again. I climbed the spiral staircase to the top ...