the city of lights

I've been in Paris for a day and a half and it has flown by. First, to get here I took my first overnight sleeper train car. It was kind of a hard bed, but I did get some sleep - a miracle considering there was 6 people crammed in a room the size of my parents' closet.

I met a group of 4 American girls from West Virginia who were traveling together on the train. The 5 of us ended up doing a free walking tour of Paris the morning we got in. It was great, but looong - 4 hours to be exact! Between that and all of the stairs in my very hilly neighborhood I'm staying in I've easily been burning off all I've eaten. (There are 102 stairs in my train station!)


Here's the "nice meal" I had my first evening - pasta with salmon. Holy yumm!

And the delicious raspberry tart from the bakery that's 30 feet away from my hostel. Heaven in my mouth!!

While on the walking tour with my new friends we were informed that the group that does the tour also puts on a bar crawl every night. 12 euros to do it, but amazing drink specials (for Paris and especially for the center of Paris where it was held) and entrance to a club that usually costs 20 euros.

We had an excellent time. Love making new friends :) That's the Arc de Triomphe in the background.

And lastly, here is a picture of the city from Sacre Coeur (a cathedral that sits on the top of the hill in Montmarte (the neighborhood I'm staying in). Picasso and Van Gogh painted in Montemarte.


And now a picture from the Musee d'Orsay looking back at Montemarte - you can see Sacre Coeur at the very top. I got to see my very favorite Monet at that museum today.

Tonight I pack, tomorrow I'm off to Brussels, Belgium! Au revoir Paris!