Singing from the Coeur

What a day. This may have been one of my favorite days so far in Paris. My friend, Amanda, and I went to Sacre Coeur. Not only was the church absolutely beautiful, the view from the steps was even better. Before we headed up to the actual building, we wandered around the little town for awhile. It was so adorable! There were artists everywhere painting scenes of Paris. Each artist had it's own distinct style in the way they portrayed Paris through their art. Some were clearly Notre Dame in a cartoony, colorful way. In others, the Eiffel Tower was sort of an illusion, but once you saw it, the scene was so clear. I am definitely planning on heading back there and buying some of the art, maybe a present for Mom and Dad?

After walking around for a while, we headed up to the actual Sacre Coeur, and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a look out of almost the entire city of Paris. You could see Notre Dame, Musee d'Orsay, and an incredible skyline. As you can see in this photo to your left, there was a man standing on a light post doing tricks with a soccer ball. People were going crazy for this guy, shaking his hand, putting money in his little hat, it was insane. At one point, he kept the ball balanced on his face and scaled the entire light post. After the soccer show, Amanda and I went into the physical building of Sacre Coeur. They don't allow you to take cameras inside. It's kinda cool. The only way you can see what it looks like in there is by going inside. I like that idea, keeping it sacred. I may not be Catholic or Christian, but the church is so lovely and such a special and beautiful place. 

After walking through the church, we sat back down on the steps to admire the view. Lucky for us, there was a couple that had just gotten married being serenaded by a man and his guitar. He sang them a lovely song about love and then began singing a Bob Marley song to everyone. He would yell "Come on, Sacre Coeur!" to get us all singing. It was quite hilarious. After that, he asked for suggestions. Being the brave, abroad-going, Paris-exploring gal that I am, I yelled out, "The Beatles!" and he played "Ticket to Ride." After that, he called me the beautiful girl with the request and proceeded to play "Imagine." Almost everyone sitting on the steps began to sing. What was so amazing to me was that all the people on these steps were  from all over the world, yet we were all singing together. Besides that the lyrics of the song are all about the people being one, music, in general, is such a unifying thing. Everyone was singing together, enjoying the beautiful view, and really seeing Paris. It was a great moment for me and really helped make the day amazing. After the lovely serenade, we walked around the little area and bit more. We stopped in a chocolate shop and found a chocolate model of the Eiffel Tower. Doesn't matter how touristy it was, I had to take a picture with it.  I hope to head back there soon and enjoy the sights again! 

HI MOM!!!!!