Week 2 - Tuesday

So today we got out of class early to go to the Centre George Pompidou, the modern art museum. We walked through the Luxembourg gardens to get there. I had walked outside of them a few days before and didn't know what the big place was, other than some kind of park. It's really pretty cool. A lot of locals walk around and come here for lunch to relax. We walked to the metro and got off at Chatelet station, which I think is probably the biggest in paris. With Gladys leading us around to find the museum, we got lost. After walking through some interesting neighborhoods, we found a bus stop and realized it was only a couple of blocks away, so with it being pretty hot we'd just wait for the bus.
We finally got there and found out that this, as most museums in Paris--except musee d'orsay, are closed on Tuesdays. You would think Parsians would know that...Considering Nadege set up the day we would go with class. Anyway.
So we saw a gelato place at the top of the hill, so the class took a "field trip" there. And we found the best gelato place in Paris! Amazingly good. So after we stayed there...they were all taking, while I took a cat nap haha. And I awoke to them deciding to split up and go to more sights. I went with a few to go see l'Arc de Triomphe.
We found our way up to the Etoile. Which is the circle/star road around with arch, with 12 roads radiating out. Under the tunnel and up to the base. We got our free tickets, thanks to our school museum pass. We walked around looking at it up close first, and the eternal flame underneath. Then up the narrow stone spiral staircase, we found ourselves in the first floor in the middle. It was a tiny museum, but was under renovation (of course). It did have some pictures which were really interesting.
Continuing up to the top, we found a wonderful 360 view of Paris. With the design of the city having the streets radiate out from this point, there were no obstructions to get in the way. It was a bit windy, but not too bad.
Coming back down we ran into a military procession, which I guess happen nearly everyday, paying respect to the eternal flame.
Afterwards, we we to get some lunch at a cafe we'd gone to before. The sandwiches are great and cheap--not to mention the excellent desserts.

Day 9 - Tuesday