Paris Trip #2 in Bullet Points

Let's recap what I did yesterday because I'm not feeling like writing in paragraphs like a normal person:

Chapter One: Getting There

Missed this girl-so glad she came to Paris!

• Woke up at 6am to meet Kenzie and walk to the station at 6:50
• Waited for Kenzie (but not nearly as long as last time-kudos to you for waking up to your alarm this time around, champ)
• Somehow, miraculously ran into Paul on the street (proud of you for waking up too, bud)
• Made it to the TGV on time, which was a big deal for us
• Saw a lady with neon green hair and matching neon green accessories on the TGV 
• Saw an adorable chocolate lab at the station and did everything I could to keep from bending over and kissing it repeatedly
• Successfully navigated the Paris metro like it was my job
• Quickly lost confidence when I almost got us lost once we got off the metro
• Quickly regained confidence when I successfully communicated with a French bakery worker in order to get directions (which were great directions, I may add)
• Made it to Katie's hostel in one piece

Chapter Two: It's Gotta Be Uphill From Here 

Skull boy in cool avant-garde church

• Met up with Katie (AKA my platonic soul mate) and her friend Ryan at their hostel
• Attempted to find Moulin Rouge by wandering Montmartre and climbing a ridiculous amount of stairs/hills
• Asked a nice-looking old man how to get to Moulin Rouge (keep in mind that it was probably (9:30am at this point) and he looked at me like he was very confused as to what I wanted to do there, but gave me directions nonetheless
• Attempted to follow nice frenchman's directions but failed
• Found a cool church instead
• Decided to go into said church
• Took a lot of pictures of said church, whose name I unfortunately forgot to take note of 
• Admired their alternative, hipsteresque stained glass windows that featured a fully clothed man with a skull for a head and a weird dragonesque thing that is most definitely not in the Bible [EDITORIAL NOTE: apparently Satan is actually, at one point, depicted in dragon form in the Bible, I googled it so it's probably legit. My b.]
• Found our way back to the hostel somehow (lots of walking uphill-Montmartre is a workout)
• Met up with the rest of the Mizzou Pamplona exchange kids
• Paul and Kenz sneaked some hostel bread because it was breakfast time at said hostel and we're young travelers who need fuel for getting up and down all said hills (also, they didn't eat breakfast unlike my over prepared self who woke up early in order to ensure that I got my daily rice cake with knock-off nutella in)
• More stairs, then off to the metro to show our fellow tigers how to get cheap day passes

Chapter Three: On Top of the World 

La Madeleine (look closely for said gold cross)

• Took the metro with Katie, Paul and Kenz to La Madeleine
• Appreciated the fact that whoever's doing reconstruction on the front of the church had the decency to hide some of the scaffolding with a big golden cross
• Meandered around and took way too many pictures with poor lighting
• Admired the neoclassical architecture and beautiful organ music that we were lucky enough to get a taste of
• Stopped and sat for a while in order to ponder life/mostly just to rest our feet
• Walked to L'Opera Garnier
• Ooed and ahhed at the gold-tipped spires of the building's exterior
• Got Paul to take a pic of us girls
• Forced Paul to take a picture with Kenz
• Stopped and listened to a cute Irishman with the voice of an angel sing covers of popular American songs (in a way that sounds a lot better than the people who originally sing them)
• Walked to Galleries Lafayette and gawked at the sick ceiling (that means cool)
• Got judged for walking into Louis Vuitton because we're peasants compared to the people legitimately shopping there
• Took a Princess Diaries-style foot pop pic with Katie in front of the Chanel No. 5 sign
• Bought overpriced yet freaking delicious macaroons and went up to the terrace on the 7th floor
• Ate said macaroons together while overlooking the whole city (c'est magnifique)
• Mentally pinched myself to remind myself what I was actually looking at
• Sat and admired the beauty that is Paris-especially on a rare sunny day-before heading back downstairs
• Saw weird bunny-children mannequins
• Hung around/loitered because wifi 

Chapter Four: Food and Children and Churches; A Few of My Favorite Things

My beloved gnomon at Sainte Sulpice

• Ate lunch at Paul because it's fantastic and I wanted Paul to try Paul
• Savored said lunch, which consisted of a three cheese pizza and raspberry tart
• Headed over to Notre Dame/the lock bridge on the metro
• Forced Paul to take and be in more pictures
• Contemplated the reasoning behind the long line at Notre Dame (Katie said that people were in line to kiss some unidentified artifact the day before)
• Found the Pamplona kid's lock on the bridge
• Witnessed an anti-lock bridge dude pull locks off and throw them into the river
• Crossed the bridge and went to Shakespeare and Company Bookstore (AKA God's gift to the Earth/one of my new favorite places)
• Fell in love with the bookstore and its nooks and crannies (antique books + small spaces + cushioned bay window benches + typewriters + history + old school, hipster vibe = perfect place to get lost in a book. Definitely coming back here someday just to sit and read)
• Bought some books as gifts for people back home and got real stoked about it
• Wandered around the Latin Quarter towards Jardin du Luxembourg and ran into Musée de Cluny, La Sorbonne and a weird train/car thing on the street along the way
• Sat and people watched/soaked up some sunny D at le jardin, which mainly consisted of me creeping on an adorable French child who looked like he was going to sail his toy boat in the fountain but never did (sad face)
• Visited one of my absolute favorite places, Saint Sulpice
• Geeked out over the gnomon (sort of like a sundial but cooler)
• Took a solid 15 min to read a plaque in French and understood it well enough to learn that the gnomon served as early evidence to the world's tilted axis and rotation around the sun (I sort of hate science so I'm not entirely sure why I find this fascinating, but I do)

Chapter Five: Sunsets and Goat Cheese Are the Best Way to End a Day

Sacre Coeur at sunset is my kinda Sacre Coeur

• Hopped back on the metro to finish the day at Sacre Coeur
• Accidentally wound up in a cemetery while attempting to walk to Sacre Coeur
• Somehow made it there with what little breath I had left after climbing all those stairs
• Saw the next best view of the city from the top of the hill
• Got lost in the colors of the sunset 
• Ended up going into the basilica twice since Ryan showed up after we had already gone through once (not complaining)
• Attempted to take artsy pics of candles and Jesus
• Caught the beginning of a French mass the second time we went in (very cool)
• Stared at the sunset and took more pictures because sunsets are all the rage
• Went back to Katie's hostel and chilled for a bit
• Went next door and ate the most delicious salad I've had in a long time (cucumber, tomato and ham with hot goat cheese-adorned toast on top. Heaven)
• Said goodbye to my best friend (it's cool, see you in a few weeks bud)

Paris likes to show off from the top of Montmartre at sunset. The trees were helping me do some natural framing.