Ladurees!

I know, I know, I'm awful!

Okay, so back to last week!
Last Friday we had civilization class, which usually doesn't occur on Fridays. It was to supplement our lack of class tomorrow (November 2nd). After class was our class trip to Chateau de Chantilly, a few beautiful building with really unique stained glass windows, endless chandeliers, and one of the most beautiful and cozy libraries I have ever seen!
We also went to the restaurant at Chantilly, where we dined on quiche, chicken, some cheese, and sweet apples. Pretty yummy!
After we arrived back in Paris a bunch of us all went out to dinner, yet I simply had a plate of fries due to a lack of hunger, before heading for a late night at the Louvre. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea the place was so gigantic. We barely saw anything even though we were there for a little more than an hour. It really is quite amazing, and I plan to spend as much time as I can there in the future.
I saw the ever famous Mona Lisa, which I wasn't planning on being impressed with, and I wasn't when I saw it. It was more interesting watching the crowd in front of the piece, the amount of security, and wondering why on earth it has come to be so popular.
My favorite part, of course, were the statues, as well as the medieval part of the old Louvre. Architecture and statues are always so amazing to me, and they were all so beautiful!
After a little bit of time at the Louvre we all headed to one of the bridges over the Seine to watch the light show (to celebrate the anniversary of the Eiffel) at the Eiffel. We did it up crazy style and climbed up onto a pillar on the bridge to watch the ~11 minute show. Absolutely beautiful, and a really fun time!

On Saturday I decided to explore a bit more and to see things I haven't seen yet, so I started my day out on the Champs Elysees, with that good ol' famous song in my head. Well, it was cloudy and rainy, so maybe the beginning of the Champs Elysees wasn't as beautiful as usual, but it was still a nice walk. And the stores further down were pretty remarkable and crazy expensive.
After walking down the Champs Elysees a bit I hit the Arc de Triomphe, which was a lot bigger than I thought it was. What I loved was that it had several names engraved from French Wars that I learned about a few weeks ago, so everything felt a bit more special because of that.
After the Arc I went to Montmartre again, probably my favorite part of Paris. I was going to order the Sole Meuniere, but the dish was quite expensive and I didn't really feel like eating alone, so instead I got some freshly roasted chestnuts (yum, yum, yum!) near the Moulin Rouge, which I wondered to accidentally, but which I was very happy to see! Of course, it wasn't as fabulous as in the latest movie, but it still brought out good memories. =)

After the chestnuts I decided to indulge in what one of my friends deemed to be the best creme brulee, and indeed it was! It was from a pastry shop on General LeClerc (who I also think has some of the best baguettes). It wasn't like flan (all the creme brulees here taste just like flan to me), but a creamy, sweet, and also slightly crispy yumminess. Heaven!
Instead of grabbing a small dinner that night or cooking something, Emily and I went to Polidor, a very well known restaurant where I ordered some melt-in-your mouth sausage and potatoes with a 10% discount. The place was packed to the brink and looked very western/parlor-ish. A pretty good find if you ask me.

On Sunday, unfortunately the only thing memorable was some yummy soup I made while doing homework. Oh well.
After class on Monday, Emily, Lloyd and I went to Laduree's, a famous patisserie/restaurant/chocolate chain store. We went down the other side of the Champs Elysees than I had previous visited. At Ladurees we all ordered different Mille Fleurs, mine with amazing cream and red fruit jam. It was delicious!
But best of all was the hot chocolate we ordered, enough to give me a whole two cups. It was thick and hot and one of the best things to ever touch my tongue. Insanely delicious!
Okay, well my internet is running slow so I will continue to catch you all up later and hopefully I will be able to put up some pictures tomorrow.
=)