Saturday was a pretty nice day for me. We started out with lunch and somehow I thought that a salmon and goat cheese sandwich would be a good idea because it was fairly cheap on the menu. Wrong. The salmon was good, but the goat cheese overpowered it. The sandwich came with another salad that had arugula (which tastes awful in my opinion). So I picked out the spinach for my sandwich, and somewhat tried to force myself to eat the other greenery to try to maintain a balanced diet.
I’m not quite sure why, but we went into an enormous department store. I wasn’t there to shop for myself, and certainly not to spend a ton of money (US department stores cost enough as it is), so I went with some of the guys to different floors. Since European power tools probably wouldn’t work well in the states, I figured this wasn’t the best place to buy gifts for my dad and brothers. I was just going with the flow. Soon we went upstairs and found the electronics section. While the guys were enamored over a huge flat screen HDTV, I found myself rather entertained by a children’s gaming system about like LeapFrog. I played a couple of rounds of Uno before I got impatient with it. Eddie found us and I went to toy section with him to find something for Hunter while he looked for gifts for his nephews. Unfortunately, everything I thought would be characteristic of European toys was also characteristic of European prices. HotWheels were reasonably priced, but they weren’t anything special.
I got to see the Notre Dame again and really study the details. I found it interesting that all the statues’ heads were at the same level on a row, so shorter figures stood on taller pedestals than others. I don’t know which one of the twelve apostles was supposedly the shortest, but the sculptor must have assumed that one must be shorter than the others. We were amazed at how the statues would have been lifted and attached to the side of the building.
We shopped for souvenirs and I almost bought a way over-priced music box for baby Charlotte when Laurie stopped me and suggested a painted canvas that I missed at the front of the store. It cost a little more but it was a much better idea. These music boxes were cheap and generic, but every canvas they had looked unique.
Once we got back to the metro, Eddie led us to the neighborhood where they stayed last year, near Moulin Rouge. We must have gotten off the metro at the wrong stop, because we had to walk through several blocks of the red light district. However, Eddie noted that he had never been that far away from the hotel in that direction, so I’m sure he didn’t expect to take us through there. Once we were in front of Moulin Rouge, I took some glamor shots above a large air vent that blew my hair around. We had some group shots and then went to an Irish pub for supper. I was thrilled that they had a few frozen virgin drinks to choose from: I got one called “Teenage Dream” with strawberry, pineapple, and coconut. Really tempted to go out with the others afterwards, I decided that I wanted to get up early the next morning, so I went back to the hotel with the professors. In hindsight, I would have had time to sleep in a bit and really enjoy my night with such a hospitable group of people.
When I got back to my hotel room, all the other girls were lounging around sipping some wine and waiting for midnight to wish one of the girls a happy birthday. I know they had a good time going around town with real Parisians, but I was very glad I spent my day as a tourist with the other group.
I’m not quite sure why, but we went into an enormous department store. I wasn’t there to shop for myself, and certainly not to spend a ton of money (US department stores cost enough as it is), so I went with some of the guys to different floors. Since European power tools probably wouldn’t work well in the states, I figured this wasn’t the best place to buy gifts for my dad and brothers. I was just going with the flow. Soon we went upstairs and found the electronics section. While the guys were enamored over a huge flat screen HDTV, I found myself rather entertained by a children’s gaming system about like LeapFrog. I played a couple of rounds of Uno before I got impatient with it. Eddie found us and I went to toy section with him to find something for Hunter while he looked for gifts for his nephews. Unfortunately, everything I thought would be characteristic of European toys was also characteristic of European prices. HotWheels were reasonably priced, but they weren’t anything special.
I got to see the Notre Dame again and really study the details. I found it interesting that all the statues’ heads were at the same level on a row, so shorter figures stood on taller pedestals than others. I don’t know which one of the twelve apostles was supposedly the shortest, but the sculptor must have assumed that one must be shorter than the others. We were amazed at how the statues would have been lifted and attached to the side of the building.
We shopped for souvenirs and I almost bought a way over-priced music box for baby Charlotte when Laurie stopped me and suggested a painted canvas that I missed at the front of the store. It cost a little more but it was a much better idea. These music boxes were cheap and generic, but every canvas they had looked unique.
Once we got back to the metro, Eddie led us to the neighborhood where they stayed last year, near Moulin Rouge. We must have gotten off the metro at the wrong stop, because we had to walk through several blocks of the red light district. However, Eddie noted that he had never been that far away from the hotel in that direction, so I’m sure he didn’t expect to take us through there. Once we were in front of Moulin Rouge, I took some glamor shots above a large air vent that blew my hair around. We had some group shots and then went to an Irish pub for supper. I was thrilled that they had a few frozen virgin drinks to choose from: I got one called “Teenage Dream” with strawberry, pineapple, and coconut. Really tempted to go out with the others afterwards, I decided that I wanted to get up early the next morning, so I went back to the hotel with the professors. In hindsight, I would have had time to sleep in a bit and really enjoy my night with such a hospitable group of people.
When I got back to my hotel room, all the other girls were lounging around sipping some wine and waiting for midnight to wish one of the girls a happy birthday. I know they had a good time going around town with real Parisians, but I was very glad I spent my day as a tourist with the other group.
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