Sacre Coeur, Montmartre, and some good French fun

So last night we got to go out on the town again with our two French friends, Christophe and Erwan. Sarah and Lauren had told them they wanted to go on a picnic so the 5 of us and Katy's temporary roommate Sunanna went on a good ol' French picnic. I was expecting us to sit on a blanket in a park and tell stories about America and the good times we've had there and teach each other new curse words in the others' language. And it turned to to be much more fun than that.

The guys decided to take us to Montmartre, which is a very pretty place in some parts and a little more dangerous in others. We were in the pretty part. After climbing hundreds of stairs (which I would love to go back to and put a slinky on), we reach the top of a hill where Sacre Coeur loomed, lit up by lights reflecting its awesomeness. Sacre Coeur is a church, if you didn't know, and it sits on top of a hill in the North of Paris. Which I didn't know, but soon enough, we were sitting on some stairs, with our back to the Sacre Coeur, our faces to the rest of Paris, and baguettes, cheese and wine stuffed in our mouths. It was an awesome sight. Breathtaking, to use a cheesier word. You couldn't see the Eiffel Tower, it was hidden behind some trees, but the Notre Dame was clearly visible as was the Tour de Montparnasse and all the pretty lights of the City of Lights.

Our French friends treated us to delightful food at our picnic. They brought: about 6 baguettes, (which is far better than any American bread in my opinion), duck pate, cochon (pig) pate, two other types of pate that I don't remember the names, a small wheel of camembert cheese, a roll of fantastic sausage, and two bottles of wine. It was less of a picnic and more of a feast. Just simply fantastic.

As we were eating there was a small band playing a few French, but mostly American songs behind us while so youths sat around, playing music on some speakers and dancing along. At one point, Sarah/Lauren mentioned they wanted to hear Soldier Boy to us. The youths heard them, and a few minutes later the song was playing and the two girls were dancing, while the rest of us enjoyed the show. :-) In all, the night turned out to be pretty magical, worth raving about in a blog post.

In other news, our landlord e-mailed us again today (the first time he has ever e-mailed us twice in a one week period) and said that we could sign the lease, pick up the keys, and move in on Sunday. What a relief. I am excited to get into my new apartment to see what I need, how far it is from the school, and what Parisian life is outside of this stinky dorm room.

Hope to hear from you all soon!

A bientot,
Justin