College, dead people, and a wild animal...

So yesterday was freezing but we did a walk kind of as a group. At least 9 people were together, and 4 more were behind (we bumped into them as we finished each museum). Anyways it was the Lutetia Pulchra Est walk, whatever that means. It was really cool, except for the fact that it was freezing. We started out at the Musée de Cluny, which is a Medieval museum. Right next to it were Roman baths but I couldn't get a good picture because it was surrounded by tall fences. This museum used to be a hotel from the 15th century so just walking around and looking at the walls and ceilings was cool enough. My favorite room was the ones with the stained glass. They had artificial light from each side of the wall! I keep marveling at how they made it. See!

We spent about 45 minutes in there and then continued to see the Sorbonne. I guess we aren't allowed inside because back in the 60's people protested there and they don't want rowdy crowds there to protest. Not that anybody would protest when it's FREEZING! It was cool though, it put most of BYU's buildings to shame.

After that, we went to see the dead people in the Pantheon. Here's me looking sick in all black:

A pic from the outside:

There were quite a few famous peole therethere, and still a lot of empty spots for future famous French people. The ones I knew of were Alexander Dumas, Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, etc... I think this one was Rousseau's:

There was also some murals about St. Genevive. I guess it was originally a Church built in her honor, but before it was finished the French Revolution happened and they seized control of it and started putting famous French people there. Here's one mural:
So it wasn't heated very well, at all....and thus I couldn't wait to leave. We then went to St-Etienne-Du-Mont Church and it was cool but they all kind of looked the same to me by now. We then walked by Pascal's house (math whiz, I heard about him before), and then there was this old wall that Rebecca was saying about how important it was. It used to surround Paris. It was alright, just an old wall, so I'm not gonna post a pic up here. The coolest thing I thought was this old Roman Gladiator arena. I guess it could seat 15,000 and they found it about a hundred years ago when they were digging here. There were even cages for the animals to come out and fight the gladiators! Just like in the movie! Take a look below to see people playing soccer there. It's crazy to think that here in France, an old Roman ruin has become a park. SOO much history.

Finally, the wild animal:

Paris, Day 4

So I've been here a few days now but I need to catch up a little bit on stuff from before. I'll start from yesterday, Friday. Everything's good, but Paris is a little dirtier and full of bums/beggars than I thought. They're everywhere! Even more than in Boston and the metro system is quite disgusting. But once you get out to the main streets everything is beautiful! So we went to this Arabic place and ate some Middle Eastern Food. It was alright but a little tame on the taste. Not strong enough I mean. Couscous was good though and the sauce would be too if it had some flavor! Here's a pic of the people on the cool table (Sorry Ro!):

Then some of us went and did the Montmarte walk. It's this area called Montmarte and the most famous thing is the Sacre Coeur Basilica Cathedral. Here's a pic of that:

It was pretty cool! I couldn't take picture inside though. The view from the top was really good too:
Coming up those stairs though, at the entrance are several "Jamaican" guys. They will make you put up a finger and tie this quick bracelet and ask for donations. They are really aggressive so beware. I got tricked into it cuz i was looking around alone and wandering slowly. I noticed these guys were up to something but they will corner you so I figured what the heck I'll pay them 2 euros to avoid trouble. Then they asked for bills and I said no but there is 3 guys by then surrounding you and they try to tough you up. I gave them 2 or 3 more euros and they still weren't happy. By then I got really angry and looked at each of them in the face and said No! And then they backed off. They're not really dangerous so much as con artists. So just beware when you go, especially women. I read online that they intimidate 10-20 euros from women. Anyways I just need to travel more confidently and act like this is my country now! So from then on I been rolling the way I do in the States and in Taiwan. Two French ladies asked me for the time today (meaning I look local now)! No one's gonna mess with me anymore.

Anyways we followed the walk around Montmarte and saw a bunch of places where artists used to live but the only one I knew was Picasso. A lot of the other students knew Renoir but I didn't. This restaurant, called La Maison Rose (or the Pink House, I don't know why...) is where Picasso used to eat lunch at.

Then lastly, we finished at Moulin Rouge. I'm surprised this is part of the walk. Some of the girls that were following me didn't believe it was actually part of the walk and I was making it up. (haha it shows that type of reputation I have). It wasn't as impressive as I thought. I never seen the movie so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Anyways I thought the best part of the walk was when we were just down the street going towards Van Gogh's old house there was all this eatery and stuff and we passed by an elementary school with these cute kids that came out to their parents taking them home. It was just so real and really felt like France. I think I'm often more impressed by simple things like that then just buildings or tourist attractions. In Boston, I remember there was this beautiful street in Charlestown that nobody went to. It was just a residential area that was just so pretty! This neighborhood where I live feels the same too!