Paris: Sacre Coeur

Day 1 of Paris was great. My roommate Rachel and I explored our neighborhood, figured out the subway, visited the beautiful Sacre Coeur and wandered around Montmartre, a lively and beautiful neighborhood. All in all, a very successful day.

Our neighborhood is an enchanting traditional Parisian little place, with beautiful churches and architecture.

After walking around a bit, we braved the metro. We switched lines with no trouble, and patted ourselves on the back for being such smart tourists. However, somehow, not until we exited the metro at the end of the day did we realize that "Sortie," which we observed to be a place accessible from all the metro stations, actually meant "exit."

We arrived at Sacre Coeur, Which was flooded with torusits (mostly French). We were approached several times by men wanting to "give" us bracelets, being such "beautiful American girls." Fortunately, the our host family's daughter had explained to us yesterday that these men tie the bracelet on and then force you to pay for it since it is now permanently attatched to you. I'd like to think we would not have been tricked by this, but we certainly would have been more confused as to the plans of these curious salesman, had we not been informed earlier. When we resisted conversation, one of these men yelled "but it's OK, I'm from Jamaica." I'm not sure how he thought this would help, how unless he somehow confused me for a fellow native islander.

Sacre Coeur was beautiful. It was rather crowded, but there was still no line to get in. After walking through the basilica we strolled around Montemarte, which was filled with traditional Parisian streets. We followed a walking tour from a guide book, which worked out great, and I took a picture for a French gay couple casually wearing gigantic Afro wigs, but otherwise dressed completely normally. We walked by dozens of beautiful chocolate shops, bakeries and sandwich shops selling mini sandwiches on baguettes. Unfortunately, I believe it will take more time in Europe before I can justify spending 6 Euros on a sandwich that can fit in the palm of my hand - even though they look adorable. The frugality I inherited from my father will take more than 2 days to wear off.

We took the metro back and explored the neighborhood around our apartment some more. We tried not to look like tourists, although we were quite confused when the exit escalator from the metro landed us in the middle of a landing by a busy intersection. We discreetly pulled out our map and re-oriented outselves.

So far a great time in Paris. Can't wait to see more!