Beer for My Horses

Ashleigh arrived in from Prague Friday evening, and was ready to go the next morning.  We went to Chloé and Franck's house and had a homemade taco lunch...which was a delicious Mexican fix for us both.  Since Chloé and Franck weren't there, it was the perfect time to take advantage of their kitchen!  (Which was offered to me before they left for Morocco.)  I had to do some special business at the Eiffel Tower, and we walked down through the Jardin du Trocadéro for some nice people watching as we discussed what we should do.  Just at that moment as two people passed with ice cream cones we both turned to each other and said...Berthillon.  Perfect.  It was warm, not hot, and perfect ice cream weather.  There were SO many tourists out and about and I mean, who wouldn't want to be in Paris on a sunny, warm, beautiful day in April?!  

We got to the metro and headed to Cluny-La Sorbonne.  My favorite metro station.  It's the first one I remember coming to my first weekend here, not to mention it has pretty pink and orange shiny tiles.  I can't say that I'm down there much, so I don't think I've been back since now!  Funny how that works...

We were going this way to the Panthéon to visit the top.  From April-October you can take the stairs to the dome and have another "best view in Paris."  I will say, the views NEVER get old.  We arrived at 5:50 and the last visit up was at 5:45.  Bummer.  Feeling optimistic about our ice cream, we walked down past Eglise Saint-Séverin, past the Notre Dame to Île Saint-Louis.  

The streets were absolutely bustling with tourists which drove me CRAZY!!!! Tourists stop in the middle of the streets with their maps, children, and cameras....have some sense people!  There are also all of a sudden 5,000 tour buses crowding the streets.  Ugh...I can only imagine that summer will be worse. My mom always says that she imagines that wherever I go in Paris someone is behind me playing "La Vie en Rose."  I thought it was so silly until this weekend I noticed that buskers are playing that very song on just about every corner.  

We walked down the street at Île Saint-Louis only to find that Berthillon was closed.  I love that they make so much money they can just close whenever they feel like it.  Half the times I've been its been closed.  So, we settled for an overpriced Berthillon cone at some other random café.  Pine nut praline and salted caramel for me, Mirabelle for Ashleigh.  

Today after church, we tried our luck at the top of the Panthéon again.  This time with much success.  

This is the prettiest view I've had of the Sacre-Couer yet.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but you could practically see the stairs covered over in tourists.  I love it also because you can see all the houses and buildings basically from one side of Paris to another.  

I guess this also could be an appropriate time to tell you that I got a haircut.  It's not too short, but my hair is so thick and heavy that I needed a change for the summer...pronto.  It sits just below my shoulders, but I can still put it up into a short ponytail.  I went to an English salon, and paid a little bit extra for it, but was definitely worth it.  She said that she has at least 3 people every week that come in after they couldn't communicate to a French salon what they wanted.  I believe "hot mess" was how she described them.  

After the Panthéon, we sat down in the park just behind the Notre Dame and had what was believed as the best crêpe of all time.  Sautéed mushrooms, ham, and cheese.  So much stuff inside we couldn't even finish them.  We sauntered back over towards the metro at Hôtel de Ville and what did we find??? The Francophone Federation of Country and Line Dancing...oh my!!! I found this to be incredible!  It was like a little piece of home in Paris....maybe I'll join?  

Some of these gents and ladies had gone all out...cowboy hats, sequin studded shirts, cowboy boots, a hat that said Texas Sidestep and others were just in it for the fun.  There were quite a few people and the group only kept growing!  We watched the first two and then the next song?? Toby Keith's Beer for my Horses.  bbahahahahahahha oh my goodness I couldn't help but laugh!  I began to sing along of course and Ashleigh leaned over and asked, "Did you ever think you would be outside of Hôtel de Ville in Paris, France listening to Beer for my Horses on loudspeaker?"  No!  Of course not!  But I loved every second of it.  I wanted to join in but they were surprisingly pretty good.  There were several gals who could hold their own at the Wildhorse any night of the week.  

We leave for Italy in the morning and I am bursting with excitement.  I will be 100% broke after this trip but it is worth it, right?!  I will have some wifi in a few of our hotels, but probably no time to blog.  Promise to update you on all the juicy details when I get back!!! A presto!! Arrivederci!!!