Day 8-Here and There

Day 8-Here and there
What a busy day again! Since it’s already 12:30-and yes we just got in!
We started the day with riding the open air bus from the Paris Opera house to the Sacre-Coeur. This was another amazing cathedral. Pilgrims still climb on their knees to this church that sits on top of a hill overlooking Paris. The view was beautiful as we finally had a bright sunny day. (In fact I think I got slight sunburn today!) In this church you have to be quiet as they continue to conduct mass throughout the day. I had to smile at the man who had to say “shhhhh” as people walked around the cathedral.
There was a little confusion with the group today on our meeting time and point so we ended up missing each other. Alice, Jori, Kathryn, Heinrick and a group of kids went one way and Lee and I went another. As Lee and I were riding the “green” Open Airbus tour I looked across at another bus and said “isn’t that Analies in front?” Sure enough, they had caught a bus from Sacre-Coeur to the Louvre. We met up again at the Louvre.
The Louvre is HUGE! We went in through the pyramid and made our way to the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa and Winged Victory. The kids thought the Mona Lisa would be bigger. Each got their picture taken with the picture behind them. The kids enjoyed seeing the crown jewels also. We only saw a fragment of this museum. It was rather overwhelming with the number of people visiting and the immenseness of the whole building. It was very ornate in some rooms since it used to be a castle.
After the Lourve, Heinrick navigated us towards the Muse D Orsay. On our way we stopped at a café and ate a snack on the sidewalk (and paid 15% more!) The sixteen of us had a good time and the waiters were very nice to us. At the Muse D Orsay the kids searched out the Degas and Monet paintings. We only spent about 1 hour there but most of us like it better than the Louvre. There were less people and the kids knew the painters.
We then hopped on the RER (double deck train) and went to the Latin Quarter. The kids saw some street dancers and then stopped at a little store and some kids bought some earrings. Alice was on the lookout for a place to eat dinner. We walked by a Greek restaurant where the manager was smashing plates on the side walk! He offered us a full meal for 12 Euros and free drinks so in we went! Things got a little interesting as we sat there listening to the Greek musicians. Before we knew it, the dancers were dancing to the music. One waiter cleared a table cloth off a table and had a woman dance on the table. Well, it wasn’t long before Rachel was up on a table dancing! Alex joined her for awhile and then Heinrick had them come down. Ordering a meal for 16 people was a little complicated for our waiter so we ended up writing down what everyone wanted. What we thought would be a quick dinner turned out to be a 3 hour event! The short walk back through the street of the Latin Quarter was intimidating for the younger girls with the foreign language, close quarters and many people (mostly men). They were happy to get on the train and away from the crowded area.
We haven’t seen much of the older dancers (Brooked, Michelle, Hilarie, Katie and Elizabeth) as they are touring with Jane and Marge. We miss seeing them but we are having our own adventures and fun together. Tomorrow some people are heading to Versailles while others are planning to stay in the city to catch a few more sights. We will finish our trip in Paris with a Boat ride on the Seine.
Diane