I may have gone a little crazy

Today (Monday) was FRIGID, and since I did not think to bring my winter coat to France, I had to go out and buy one (especially because the jacket I brought is bright blue and stands out like sore thumb). Oh shoot. I had to go shopping. So, Sarah and I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do a walk and go shopping. Thankfully ( I mean, darn) one of the walks is to a big shopping complex (Le Grand Lafayette).
So we went there and according to the walk, there was a store that was pretty nice and not too expensive called C&A.

This is where I went a little crazy. I got a jacket (not warm enough for this weather but it does the job, plus, I don’t want to have to lug home a heavy coat), and since it was cold I thought it would be a good idea to look at the scarves… one thing led to another and I was trying on blouses. Well, I ended up buying the jacket, two scarves (which I shouldn’t have done, there is more variety at a better price at the flea market but I had forgotten about that in the midst of it being FRIGID), and two blouses. I’m sure you will see these in future pictures (in fact, you can see one of the blouses in the Chartres pictures (you may have already seen it in the post above), and the jacket and one of the scarves are pictured below. Yes. I did actually go into another store and change my clothes so I could wear what I bought. Don’t judge.

Anyway, after that I did the rest of the walk, getting lost after the Opéra…

…. and after a ½ hour detour got back on track at le Café de la Paix (I’ve heard its famous—maybe some of you know what it is)…

…ending up in Les Jardins Tuileries (Tuilerie Gardens—not sure if I spelled that right the English way). Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect at the Tulieries, so if you go, you can expect some statues. Some of them are pretty cool but I wasn’t too impressed. I mean, really, after you’ve been to the Louvre nothing else seems to compare, and yes, I said that in a snobbish voice. Because I can. ;)


P.S. What is it with the French and their square trees?

Also, some of the statues were really weird. Like this collection. It really looks like something Freddy Kreuger would do.



This was, however, the site of my first pain au chocolate encounter. Mmm-mmm! Num! (also, they have Paul’s patisseries everywhere in Paris. Actually, they have patisseries everywhere in France (at least one on every corner, there may also be one in between those two in case you can’t make it to the next corner without another baguette or something).


Also, the birds here are aggressive. You can’t scare them away and if they see you eating something they close in on you, looking at what you’re eating with, wild, greedy eyes. See?

We also had la soirée familiale with the Paris ward. One of the missionaries gave the lesson about trials (it was super good) and how they help us to grow. From the Provo crowd there was me, Sarah, the three guys and two other girls, but there were also four girls from BYU-Idaho who are on a month-long art tour all around Europe. There were five or six Frenchmen, eleven or twelve Americans, one Spaniard, two South Americans and two Iranians. The lesson was in English and the closing prayer was in French.