Paris Day Six

Not sure what happened to Day Five, but all my activities are accounted for so far. Must be my loopiness...

This morning I woke up at 2:00 AM and couldn't go back to sleep - grrrrr. It's 2:00 PM now and I'm going to lie down for a nap after I post. My sleeping patterns are all sorts of messed up - but you know what? It *so* doesn't matter!

I hopped in the shower and got out of here pretty early this morning. I walked from my apartment to the Arc de Triomphe. I went through Jardin des Tuileries (no toy boats out yet this year - though soon, I hope!) and through Place de la Concorde (where Marie Antoinette met her demise) and up along the Champs Elysees (I wish I had all the accent marks for these beautiful french names...).

The Arc is about 2.5 to 3 miles each way, so it was a good walk. There are a gazillion people here right now (tons of students!) and I've just found out that it's Paques (Easter, but not really Easter - but it has something to do with Easter - what?!) and it's being celebrated yesterday and today - so France is basically on holiday and the streets are crammed! There are four more national holidays while I'm here - how festive!

May 1 - Labor Day (Fete du Travail)

May 1 ( a two-fer) - Ascension (40 days after Easter - so you can understand my confusion over Paques)

May 8 - Victory Day 1945 (Fete de la Victoire); the end of WWII in 1945

May 11-12 - Pentecote

I'll do some more research on these to satisfy my own curiosity and I'll probably share with you because that's what I do. As an aside, there are 11 national holidays in France and I'm here for five of them.

Climbing the stairs of the Arc was no problem this time around - I must be finally acclimating to living on the third floor! Seeing Sacre Coeur from the top of the Arc was incredible - just as it was the first time. I'm glad I was able to go this trip and really glad Nicolas talked me into seeing it in person. Even from far away, the steps leading up to the church look daunting!

Okay - short post today as nothing super-exciting to share other than I'm in Paris and having the time of my life!

-Shannon

PS - For you Iowa folks - I saw a guy walking up the Champs in a Hawkeyes jacket - Go Hawks!