Day 8- May 26

           

 (standing in a balcony at the Opera...the lighting made it difficult to get good pictures inside, but it was beautiful!)

 (our group at Notre Dame)

(deliciousness)         

          Today was a busy day for us in Paris.  We began the day with a visit to Paris’s luxury department store, Galleries La Fayette.  One of our assignments for this class is to compare Harrods with Galleries so we needed to shop around Galleries in order to observe the layout of the store and the various marketing techniques they employ.  Galleries was slightly less fancy that Harrods, but still pretty over the top with designer labels and other fancy things.

            After shopping for about an hour and a half, the group walked down to Hard Rock Café Paris for our next company visit.  We learned about the history and strategies of Hard Rock from the restaurant’s manager, then were treated to lunch.  We had delicious cheeseburgers with fries- it definitely satisfied my craving for something more ‘American.”

            Then the group walked over to Opera Nationale de Paris, the primary opera company in Paris that was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV.  It was a beautiful, old building that was fun to explore. 

            Then we headed back to our hotel for a presentation from World Bank.  World Bank is an international bank that provides loans to developing countries to encourage economic growth, governmental development, and capital investment.  Our speaker was very interesting and I enjoyed hearing about his world travels and all the experiences he has had while working with World Bank.

            By this time it was about 5 pm and we had the rest of the night free to enjoy Paris.  A few friends and I decided to go visit Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle, a palace-turned-cathedral that is known for its beautiful stained glass.  Sadly, we got to Sainte Chapelle just as they were admitting the last group of the day, so they would not allow us to buy a ticket and we will have to try to visit again tomorrow.  However, Notre Dame was just across the road, and we were able to go inside and look around the absolutely beautiful cathedral.  The building is constructed in such a way that it really makes one feel small and elicits a kind of reverence as soon as you enter.  Evening mass began at 6 so we stayed around for a little while to hear part of the service, even thought it was in Latin so we could not understand it.  I really enjoyed getting to visit this church.  If I ever come back to Europe I would like to attend an actual service in all of the famous churches and cathedrals.

            For dinner we stopped in a small restaurant close to the two churches.  Then, Jessica and I ordered and absolutely delicious banana and nutella crepe from a vendor on the street corner, who made it right in front of us.  It was wonderful.

            Now I’m sitting with Jessica in the café/bar on the top floor of our hotel, watching the sky slowly become darker, and waiting for it to get dark enough to see the Eiffel Tower light up!  We could go out and explore Paris some more, but we’re so exhausted that I think we may just call it an early night.