This weekend my friend Anya from Marquette came to visit me in Lille for a day. She's studying abroad in Paris right now and wanted to see the city. We got some lunch right away since we were both very hungry, and we went to Le Broc so we walked away more than full. No matter how hungry I think I am, I am never hungry enough for that place. Cheese and beer and chocolate cake was definitely a good start to her visit to the northern lands. Then we went back to my dorm and saw Gina for a bit and had a chance to catch up. Then we headed out to the citadel. I had never been there before so it was fun to both experience it for the first time. There's a carnival for kids that runs all year, and we fought really hard to not buy cotton candy. We walked around the whole citadel, stopping to admire some ducks and medieval fighting, but we never made it inside. Next time. Then we headed out to meet Gina and some friends for dinner, and walked around together while waiting for our reservation. The restaurant was confusing, but I was happy wish my salmon casserole and crème brûlée with white wine (total= 15€, for dinner). Then we headed back home and got ready for bed since we had an early bus to Paris in the morning. We woke up at 6am and got ready to leave. Luckily we were able to sleep on the bus. We got in pretty early, so we went to a bakery for some breakfast... With freshly squeezed orange juice, reminded me of Greece. Yummy! Then we headed to Notre Dame where we split ways and said goodbye. It was so great to see Anya and show her my town! I went to Mass at Notre Dame (it was better than last time. Also this is the first time I've been to a church twice for Sunday Mass, and it's not even in my town!), praying that Claire Elbert would find me, and He answered my prayers because right after Mass, bam there she was! Ah it was so great to see her face! We walked around the church for a bit, and I realized that the cathedral in Reims was probably bigger haha. Still always cool though! We walked around the Latin Quartier with her friends, and stumbled upon the Luxembourg Palace, which was beautiful and was almost a mini Versailles. Then we headed out to a market, which ended up being closed unfortunately, so we got bakery goods instead :) Then we headed out for the Louvre, where we saw the Mona Lisa and Napoleon's apartments. After that we walked around the park in front of the Louvre for a bit, and Claire's friends headed home to rest up for a bit, they've had a busy trip. So Claire and I walked the rest of the park, and checked out the Ferris wheel but decided it was too expensive haha, so we got crepes and waffles instead and walked along the Seine. We stumbled upon the lock bridge, and took a break there for a while to chat and catch up. Then we walked some more and tried to work the rentable bikes, but we didn't have the right credit cards :( We ended up at the Eiffel Tower, which is not near where we started haha. I used three metro tickets the whole day. After admiring the tower for a bit, we headed out to meet her friends for dinner. We got there a bit early, so we grabbed a baguette and ate it in front of some famous artist's house. (We also talked about how art wasn't our thing haha). When her friends got there, I said goodbye and headed out for my bus. I was so so happy to get to hang out with Claire outside of KC, and in France of all places! When we first met, we hung out at Diana Rose Farmstead, and today we hung out at the Louvre in Paris. I'd say we've come a long way :)