The family visits

As I mentioned before, as Prakash was leaving Paris, my family arrived. They moved into the same apartment that Prakash was staying in so I was lucky to be close to them during their stay. The first day we had together was Palm Sunday so we went to Notre Dame to see a service. The ceremony lacked the peaceful spiritual nature that church services usually have due to the massive amount of tourists milling around the chapel; additionally, I think we missed the main message, as the service was in French and we only picked up the elementary words like God and son. Afterwards, we walked over to the Marais so my mom could check out the little boutiques, Ian could try a yummy crepe and they all could see the Picasso museum.

The fam left for the south of France for a couple days and I was left to my own devices. My friends and I went bowling one night. We had a great time, everything about bowling in Paris is the same as in the States with the exception that the alleys stay open much later here.

When my people returned, I dove right back into tour guide status and took them around the city. We went to all the major museums (Louvre, D'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Rodin) and saw the major sights. I saw the Moulin Rouge for the first time and was sorely disappointed, it looked much more glamorous in the movie.

We visited the famous high fashion department store, Galleries Lafayette which had an absolutely stunning interior

One night I took I an out to his first bar. We went to the highly popular "Chez Geroge" which is and underground cave where the Nazis used to keep Jews during WWII and it has now been taken back by the Jewish community and bah/bar-mitzvahs music is played frequently. I had a good time and so did Ian, despite the fact that we were jammed in there like sardines.

My favorite discovery of their visit was Saint Chapelle catherdral. It was a very small church hidden in the middle of a lot of government buildings. From the street you can only see the spire so it seems like a protected, secret place. The church is 2 stories and the second story is absolutely breathtaking. The walls are made up almost entirely of stained glass and all the detailing of the church is in gold and midnight blue. I liked Saint-Chapelle better than Notre Dame in that it was much smaller and much less trafficked. The stained glass was the most impressive display I have every seen.




The stay was rounded out by some solid shopping. I was sad to see my family go, time just flies way too quickly, and now its already April! Only two months left.