Sacré Coeur

Tuesday was our Art class orientation day. Lisa, Brittany, and I didn't have photography until 3, so we went to the ISA office later than everyone else. I briefly stopped in Gilbert Jeune for a notebook for class, and we set off east down the left bank of the Seine in search of the office. Thankfully we ran into Rachael and some girls from her class who had already finished orientation, and they showed up where the office was. It's a block south of the seine, right across from Notre Dame. Incredible location. 

Rachael joined us for lunch before our orientation. We ate sandwiches again on a park bench next to a flower stand. It felt very quaint.

 Delicious little chocolate macaron

We returned to Shakespeare and Co. Incredible, again. Then Lisa, Brittany, and I went to photography orientation. Afterwards, Magali, Trey, Abby, Lisa, Rachael, and I went to Montmartre. My family saw the Sacré Coeur briefly on our last visit, but it was very brief. So, I was excited to get to explore this part of the city for the first time. We had to climb a couple hundred stairs to even get out of the metro station, then we climbed another 180 or so (Magali and I counted) up to the Sacré Coeur. We walked around the church and admired the view. 

Then, Lisa, Rachael, and I (since we enjoy pain) decided to climb 300 more stairs to the dome of the Sacré Coeur. The rest decided to call it a day. It was painful, but worth it, for sure. The view from up there is breath-taking. 

     

                                                                                                                     Always be prepared.  

   When we returned to ground level, we still had about an hour till dinnertime, so we walked down the stairs and walked around the area, then headed towards the Montmartre cemetery. 

 

Unfortunately it was closed, but we saw the beautiful mausoleums from the bridge. 
 The three of us, very hungry and tired by this point, decided that we deserved a nice dinner after walking up hill and up stairs for several hours. So, we took the metro up to the outskirts of Montmartre to a restaurant called Au Bon Coin. It was the cheapest restaurant I could find. It was very well priced for the quality of food. I had beef tenderloin, Rachael, veal, and Lisa, fish. Our meals were served with delicious potatoes and green beans, perhaps our first vegetable of the trip. It was delicious. We shared a bottle of white wine and each got a dessert. Rachael and I got an incredible gâteau chocolat. We still talk about it. It was a wonderful meal. 

After a tiresome, but lovely day, the three of us took the long metro ride home and went straight to bed.