Inside Notre Dame and Nights Out

So one day as I was casually strolling along in the very center of Paris, I decided to pop in the Notre Dame Cathedral to see if I could have a rare sighting of Quasimodo.  This was also one of the things Lauren and I wanted to do while she was here, but the day we were around, the line was some 500 deep and we clearly opted not to wait in that line.  The day I went there was no line, only a homeless lady sitting on cardboard right at the entrance begging for change.  The name Notre Dame means "Our Lady" and the cathedral is on a little island called Il de la Cite in the middle of the Seine river.  Here is a picture of the outside at night, although when I went it was during the day.

Inside the church is very beautiful, but right off the bat it didn't impress me near as much as The Sacre Coeur as I have previously written about.  Notre Dame is extremely old however and construction started in 1163.

I didn't purchase any cheesy memorabilia but I did buy one of the candles, like above, for 5 euro.  I'm not catholic however, and just brought it back to my apt where I like to burnt it occasionally.  Over all I'm glad I got to check out the inside of the Notre Dame, but if I can make a recommendation if you're ever visiting Paris....please try and go to the Sacre Coeur, you won't be dissapointed!

As for nights out, I was able to experience my first concert here in Paris, free of charge!  My roommates birthday was in early Jan. and her boyfriend at the time had bought them concert tickets to go see Air.  Well the night of the concert he pulled some shady business and was unable to go!  So she had the tickets and asked me if I would like to go with her and of course I said yes.  At the time I had never heard of Air.  They are actually a French band from Versailles.  Once they started playing some of their songs, I definitely recognized them.  One of their big hits is "Sexy Boy" and was part of the soundtrack for the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. 

A quick fact I learned about Air.  The lead singer and band are very good friends with the guys from the band Phoenix, who have recently gained some popularity.  Phoenix is also from Versailles as well.  Phoenix lead singer is also dating Sofia Coppola who directed the movie Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst.  She has also put both bands songs in several of her movies.

I also hang out with my 2 french friends Emmaunelle and Priscilla.  I met them the first night I was in Paris, at Corcorans.  They introduced me to an English guy named Tom who is here in France teaching English to French kids at a university.  Here are some pics from our nights out which mostly take place at Corcorans and sometimes O'Sullivans and Oz Cafe.

Above is Emmanuelle enjoying a double pint o' 1664

Us sitting in our favorite booth right next to the bar!  Looking a little rough, it had rained on me earlier!

Above is Tom aka Harry Potter and it seems as though he may be dancing on Emmanuelle, she looks a bit frustrated!

And onward to Cafe Oz, an Austrailan bar.  This was my first time at this bar, they stay open till like 11:00am!  Above is Emmanuelle, Steve, and James an Irish dude.

Since I'm not working and don't go to school here, I spend a lot of my days exploring the city and quite a few nights enjoying some pints (that rhymed)!  I'm sure there will be many more pub pictures posted in the future.  For awhile I was going to 2 pub quizzes a week, something I think that US bars should offer more often!