July 14

Today was a little crazy! We packed in as much as one could imagine on this our free day! We started at Notre Dame. I thought it was really dark and loud! But...

The Sacré-Coeur or sacred heart (a church) was a different story! It's on a hill and sits above the trees. A great place to look out over the city. As you can see my camera had a bit of a hay day! It was the exact opposite of Notre Dame; reverent, filled with light, and had the most artistic stained glass. Not typical of what you would see in a church. Loved it! I sat on this wooden pew and got lost in the quiet and peacefulness! I didn't want to leave.

On to the Moulin Rouge. This picture is about as good as it gets. There wasn't much to it!

This picture doesn't do it justice! The ceiling was AhhMazing! (this is the same style as the stained glass windows in the sacred heart... not typical of what you'd see in a church which made it all the more fabulous!)

The coolest room inside the Paris Opera house. I can't believe it was built in the 1800's! It looks so new. There were too many chandeliers to count!

So for some reason we thought we'd walk home... 4 miles later we stopped at an outdoor cafe to rest our feet and eat. Someone ordered lemonade and I couldn't help myself. I still have the label. Made me laugh real hard! If you ever order a hamburger in Paris, realize that the typical way to cook a burger is.. well, not to cook it. So if you don't want it mooing at you tell em'!

Today happened to be Bastille day which is their independence day! My favorite day in Paris because of what you see above! I am a lover of fireworks! Love them! Our professors told us that we needed to be careful and not attract attention. I guess raids are not uncommon and they are not to keen on Americans. Some people camped out to see the show but a few of us who didn't want to fight the crowds and "camp out" left the hotel moments before the show to watch it from a distance. It was perfect! Our hotel was right by the Eiffel Tower. I think they said they had about a million people set up around the ET to watch the big show. Although I didn't see the images and lights projected on the ET I did see amazing fireworks! I've never seen fireworks off of a structure before. What a night... I won't forget! Best part is it only took us a few minutes to get home and get in bed!