Day 11: Paris

Sunday is still my favorite day of the week, even in a foreign country.  We attended fast and testimony meeting this morning in the Paris Ward.  I love attending Sacrament Meeting in a foreign language because it forces me to concentrate more on the spirit of the meeting as opposed to what is simply said.  Actually, I was quite surprised at how much of French is similar to Spanish.  I was able to pick out a lot of words, especially when we were singing the hymns.

After church, we walked down to the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  This is another quite impressive structure, and extremely beautiful.  A group of us walked from there to the chapel at San Chapelle.  The chapel was once a private house of worship for one of the French kings (Louis XII maybe) and the home to one of the most beautiful stained glass windows ever built.  Our next stop for the day was the Louvre Museum.  All of the museums in Paris are free on the first Sunday of the month.  The line was long at the Louvre, but Matt showed us a less known entrance that got us right in to the museum.  The Louvre is massive!  We were in there for over two hours and only saw a small part of the collection.  Patrick told us that if you were to spend two seconds looking at each piece in the museum it would take you three months to finish.  I have never seen another museum that could compare.  We basically saw the most famous pieces of art, such as the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and the Code of Hammurabi.  The Mona Lisa is a tiny painting.  It hangs on a large, empty wall that makes it appear to be even smaller than it is.  I am glad to be able to say I have seen it, but it was not my favorite piece in the museum.  There are hallways and galleries with gigantic paintings lining the walls that are much more beautiful and much more impressive.  This is somewhere I could definitely visit again.

The group kind of broke up after the visit to the Louvre.  A few of us walked back along the River Seine towards Notre Dame.  The street is lined with street vendors who sell second-hand books, trinkets, and other odds and ends.  They are things that no one needs, but, nevertheless, still fun to look at.  Vance and Michaela would have a heyday down here.  Our wanderings led us to the Latin Quarter where we had some of the most delicious ice cream I had ever tasted.  I also had my first Parisian crepe.  It was delicious, but I wish I would have tried the nutella and banana version.  My goal is to have a different crepe each day we are here.

The evening ended with a visit to Sacra Ceour.  This is another cathedral and Paris landmark that I don't know much about.  Erica and I walked up to meet the group and watch the sunset.  Supposedly, this is the best place to see the sunset in all of Paris.  The steps to the cathedral give an amazing view of the city.  The inside of the cathedral was not quite as impressive as St. Paul's in London, but still impressive nevertheless.  The first similarity I noticed was its size.  I think every cathedral is designed to make you feel small and insignificant.  A service was being held while we were there.  We listened to the grandeur of the organ music as it was being played by some unknown person in the front of the hall.

Most of the group left to go straight home from Sacra Ceour.  I decided to linger with Patrick, Emily and Rhett, and The Godfreys.  Patrick walked us up a side street from the cathedral to a square that to me is the epitome of Parisian culture.  The square had street side cafes with hanging lights, traditional music, and artists in berets painting portraits.  This is what I think of when I think of Paris.  I want to come back to this spot!