So, the last you heard from me was that I had been exploring Paris on my own for a few hours in the snow! Eventually Kala, Sam and Megan turned up and we went for a bit of a group wander. Before you even see any of the touristy sights of Paris the streets just intrigue you. I think I could have spent a whole month just walking around, watching people and looking at all the different areas and building types. For those of you that have read Almost French, we too were living in the fabric district of Paris at Le Village Hostel. I was in a seperate room to my three lovely friends, but met some really great people in the room- a really friendly canadian with crazy hair, a really sweet german girl who was there studying french, and a teacher from seattle, to name a few. We were starving by about 4pm and found a little bakery where we ate the most delicious baguette with grilled zucchini and fromage (cheese) for about 1.60 Euro- a real bargain. We also went to a little bar and had a beer (the only beer I had in France, it works out to be about $14 australian for a pint. what a ripoff!) and certainly heard some pretty interesting music. There was one song that played that had quite rude lyrics, but maybe they didnt understand them? I'm unsure. It was a grand old time anyway.

On the 14th we woke up and wished eachother HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! It was pretty lovely being in the most romantic city of the world on this day. Megan made a pretty great date too, I must say. We woke, and dressed quickly, ate our complementary breakfast that was fresh bread with jam, and croissants. I love Paris.

We headed out to the Arc De Triumphe, which from what I can gather celebrates independance for France, or something to that accord. It would have been nice to speak a little more french really. It was a really amazing structure though, right in the middle of a roundabout. Speaking of round-abouts, the french streets are INSANE. I am suprised I didnt get hit by a car. They just drive wherever, however fast they want and dont really look out for pedestrians. Nearly got hit a couple of times, but at the time of writing this I still have all of my limbs. Well, the important ones anyway.From there we walked down the Champ de Elysses (Hoping thats the correct spelling there) which is the most pricey swish street in Paris, all the way down to the Louvre. The Louvre was amazing! We spent nearly five hours there, looking at the big exhibition of Italian Painters, and then a large sculpture exhibition. We saw the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milos, along with thousands of other works. You could have spent a week there. Infact, if you go, do spend a week there. I wish I had! After we left the Louvre we wandered over to see the Eiffel Tower, but it was getting pretty late and there were couples everywhere trying to go up to the top, so we gave up and wandered back to the fabric district. Megan and I had our romantic dinner at a little french restaurant, where we had a fun time picking things from the menu- we couldnt understand a word but ended up with delicious meals. For entree, Megan had onion soup with goats cheese crispy bread on the top, and I had fresh baguette with tomato and goats cheese melted on top. For mains I had salmon wrapped in some kind of crispy pastry, with a pumpkin curry sauce and rice. It was sooo delicious my mouth is watering thinking about it. Megan had some kind of rib steak with caramelised onion sauce that was also a winner. We were pretty satisfied after that, and headed home for an early night.

On the 15th (Sunday)we had a very big day. Waking early we walked up to the Sacre Coeur, approximately a hundred million steps or so, through all the people trying to scam tourists, and had another wander around there. We could also see the view much clearer as it was a beautiful day. We then got the Metro (Paris' transport system, that really puts connex to shame in a big way) over to the Notre Dame. I kept an eye out for Quasimodo, but no such luck, couldnt see him anywhere! We attended a service that was really beautiful, and Lizzy you were right, it does make you feel as though you should instantly become religious! I really didnt want to leave. I was suprisingly greatful for the Tintern Chapel Services though, as we sort of knew what to do when it came down to the "Peace be With You" part.

Once we left the Notre Dame we were feeling a little peckish (a little... who am I kidding? I was starved) so we hunted down a bakery and had our first Pain Au Chocolat. MY GOD. Now that really was a religious experience. So crispy, so chocolatey, so melt-in-your-mouth perfect that I think I saw heaven. You know, I cant even write that much more about it, because the rest of the trip pales in comparison to that moment. Exquisite Perfection.

That afternoon we went to the Catacombs. What happened with the Catacombs is that during the plague, or something similar, they ran out of places to bury people at the cemetry so they thought "Hey, lets be really disrespectful and put all the bones in a big hole all jumbled up together". And that is exactly what they did. So we thought hey, let's go and check out this creepy place. It was creepy. You had to go down 96 stairs to get down there, walk through all of these dark tunnels, quite unsure of where you were heading. We eventually got to the bone chamber, where there are skulls and all other bones lining the walls. For the first 100metres you think this is kind of strange in an interesting way. Until you get so deep in the ground that there is condensation dripping off the ceiling down the back of your neck, if you are not careful! That's right, I was violated by dead-people condensation. After that we ran out, back up all the stairs and onto the streets. .And this is where things got a little more scary....

*The story about to be told here is absolutely true. And I know it may come out as comical, but we realise that it was a dangerous moment and have been significantly more careful since. Please do not worry!*

We are walking down the street, and someone drives past and honks at us. We didnt really look, because in Australia people honk and you all the time, and never do anything about it. Anyway, they honk again and we look, and see that it is this big white van with this man waving at us from the window. We sort of shake our heads, keep walking and try to ignore it. He then slows right down and crawls along the side of the street next to us. We start to get a little creeped out but keep walking forward. Anyway, then he pulls over and starts yelling out things to us, in french and we are looking at eachother and thinking "C'elle Catastrophe!" He keeps driving again, and this time pulls over and jumps out of the van, and motions for us to hop it. We are thinking "You have got to be kidding!" He comes over and sort of has us up against the wall, and is babbling away in french while we say nothing, because we thought if he figured out we didnt speak english we would probably be in an even worse position. Anyway we ended up grabbing eachother and running off, and he eventually stopped chasing us. After that, we just wanted to go back to the hostel and have a bit of a drink. And that we did. But we survived! So dont fear.

We are still alive and well!