I didnt finish writing last night because i had a raging fever that had me in bed early. But here is yesterday’s finished entry.

This morning we were up early and ate breakfast down in the restaurant. We decided to go to the Louvre first, a famous museum that houses artifacts from before Christ. We took the metro and came up right close to it. It is absolutely huge. An old majestic marble building that has large marble halls and wide staircases and so many different rooms going everywhere. We got tickets and started at the first floor. The first part we went through was the Mesopotamia and Egyptian era with some of the artifacts from 1200 b.c. We went to rooms full of art and paintings from the 1300s, and saw halls full of carved marble and bronze statues. Big glass cases held little vases from the Assyrians and huge stones full of hieroglyphics. We also saw the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting “Mona Lisa”. There were so many people waiting their turn to get close to see and take pictures of it. We spent several hours walking around the Louvre but to truly see it you would need several days. My head was overloaded when we were done.

From there we took the Metro to a little street that has one of the top 10 cafes in Paris. It was cool out but we sat outside and had quiche, smocked salmon, and penne pasta. There were little round tables we ate at with a big white paper doily covering it. After you ordered they brought out a little container of flavored nuts for you to eat. Then your food came out and let me expound here how expensive it is to eat or buy here. Most cafes will charge around 4,50 euros or 5.60 US for an espresso. Sodas will be up to 6,50 euros which is almost 8 USD. An average entree at this place would cost 24 euros. We got food off the starter and brunch menu so it was cheaper but it is pricey. Bus or metro tickets are pretty cheap.

So after we ate we walked the streets with all their little stores and shops. I bought a black beret that I will also wear in Cali because its too cool not to. After a lot of indecision, Jalen bought an olive green hat that is really cool too. We walked over to the Cathedral of Notre Dame and it is another amazing church. The crown of thorns, a nail from the cross, and a piece of the cross are inlaid and kept there. It has amazing architecture and gets millions of visitors every year.

Spent some time there and walked down to an artsy neighborhood where we found La Fronde and sat to have espresso and crepes on the sidewalk. We were relaxing and suddenly the owner comes out and tells us to put our phones and backpacks away and we hear tons of noise and drums beating farther down the street. The lady tells us this is when lots of robberies happen. Then down the street comes this flood of people. At the front are people dressed in weird suits with terrible masks on. After them comes a banner saying something about “Karibbean” held by girls and then just a mob of people following chanting, blowing whistles, and men with big black whips cracking them in the street. It was a weird feeling because we didn’t know what was going on but obviously a protest of some kind. We headed over to the Metro again a couple streets away and on the way there we encountered another rally but this one was middle eastern and had banners that were pleading to let this man go. Some of the posters likened as different man to Hitler. There were maybe a thousand people chanting and walking and a very heavy police force in front and behind the group. They were protest police with shields, smoke launchers, etc. I told Morgan this was probably not a safe place to be with hundreds of people yelling about Allah. So we finally got to the metro. phew.

Took it back to the hostel and relaxed and ate supper. I was feeling pretty gross so I went to bed early.