Summer Solstice

Today was technically the first day of summer, but it was cold in Paris! I enjoyed the break from the heat though. Today was my second day back to class since I've been sick and I am loving being back, but I am so behind after missing a week and a half. Yesterday we had a test! I was not ready for it but Mr. Chuck Bass whispered "Don't panic" to me when I turned it in. Speaking of him, a few other girls and I were talking after class and I am not the only one who thinks he is cute. But they think he looks like Nate from Gossip Girl, and I guess I can see that, but he's definitely Chuck. 

Being back with my group of friends, I felt a lot of tension yesterday. It was my first day back after not being able to do much in Paris for almost 2 weeks and I wanted to have fun. They were planning on going to an air show today and the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to go. There were so many other things that I could name that I wanted to do. So instead of just putting up with someone else making my schedule for the day, I decided to do my own thing!  Because I am in Paris and I am going to have a good time dammit!! My program went as a group and toured the top of Notre Dame bell towers a few days ago, and I really wanted to go. So I did. I had already toured the ground floor one of the first days I was here, but I didn't bring my camera the first time and it just so beautiful so I went in again, and then all the way to the top. 

 This is the side of Notre Dame that isn't as famous as the bell tower side, but just as beautiful.

There is a cafe right outside of Notre Dame named Esmeralda. So funny and I thought it was precious the first time I  saw it. I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame that same day and it made me smile.

One of my favorite things to do is offer to take other people's pictures when I can tell they are struggling to take an awkward selfie. There was a British couple doing just this and after I took their picture, the woman offered to take mine. I gave her my camera and while she was taking it, I had a flash of the scene from National Lampoon's European Vacation when the family is standing in the fountain and a guy runs away with the camera. I had a mini panic attack that this was going to happen, but it ended well.

 There is stadium seating (which I think kind of ruins the mood of the area) in front of the cathedral and I walked up there to take some pictures. This is obviously a very "touristy" area, so you're going to find a lot of beggers and pick pocketers. This guy with the cargo shorts and airplane goggles was imitating people as they walked by, pretending people were celebs, and just making the whole crowd laugh. To the Asians, he would do martial arts in front of them and in the picture on the left, he was doing some sort of sword fighting to the lady with a cane, as if battling her. He definitely put on a show. Then he whipped out a hat out of his pocket and asked for money. And he actually got a lot. I watched his "show" once before I toured the bell tower and once after. 

 The line to go inside on the ground floor was about a block long. All the way to the cafe on the corner. I was not about to wait that long, so I just sort of slipped in line. I felt bad cutting the line to go into a church!! But o well.

 The ceilings are so tall and stained glass is everywhere and so magical. This year, they are celebrating 850 years of Notre Dame. O my goodness. That is just too many years to wrap my head around. 

After walking through the ground floor, I went back outside and got in line for the bell tower. It was a long wait but there were interesting people all around, so I was entertained. It ended up being free since I'm a student in Paris! There was a very cute guy who was a few people behind me in line and we ended up talking to when we got all the way to the top. He was from Brazil but I didn't understand his name in his accent. Really cute though! I went to the first level and took so many pictures. Then there were even more stairs. And I got to go the the very very top of the tower. The spiral staircase all the way up is tiny. I could've put my elbows out like chicken wings and gotten stuck. I got dizzy going back down. It was worth it. I was worried that it would rain, but the weather was perfect.

 This is my favorite picture from today! La Tour Eiffel et la Seine.

In this picture, in the upper left, to the left of the row of trees, you can see the building where my apartment is. 

I am watching the Madeline cartoon on Youtube and all the ads are in French. :) It is fun to see drawings of things in that I have seen in real life. 

Bonne nuit :)