Paris, encore

I apologize for no pictures so far, which was one of the reasons for starting this whole thing. Hopefully in Spain the "Add pictures" thing will work.
Yesterday was indeed a full day. Early in the morning I went to the Sacré Coeur for what my guidebook had described as "choir practice" at 9:45 a.m. Despite having been warned by several people about the Africans who shamelessly hawk cheap friendship bracelets to unsuspecting tourists, I decided to brave the main stairs. Instead of deterring me, those warnings had kind of piqued my curiosity, and I also thought that since it was early it really couldn't be that bad. Little did I know that I should have been prepared to tackle, because four of them tried to form a line that I had to try to run and break through wearing my best scowl, which I did successfully, making me feel like a football star. The one that I had crashed into while running past yelled something after me about not being nice, but I felt quite satisfied.
Sacré Coeur was incredibly beautiful, and the Mass inside it was also quite lovely. I've never heard an organ like that. When it played right before Mass started, it felt like an army was marching behind me, just an enormous wall of harmony that started soft and got louder and louder the closer it got to Mass. It was amazing and for me quite unexpected.
I didn't know that there was an order of nuns created when the Sacré Coeur was built in order to minister to everyone that comes, as well as to take care of the Blessed Sacrament (exposed there all the time, so that at every moment someone can look up and know that someone is up there praying for them). After Mass, they mentioned that any pilgrims could go eat lunch with the nuns. Silly me, I thought that it would be free, but it ended up being a reasonable price for what we got.
And what we got ended up being exactly what I wanted. The downside to traveling alone is that eating alone in restaurants isn't very fun, and I'm a little more hesitant to go out at night than I would be if I had someone with me. But it turns out that for 12 euros I got a four-course meal with wine, and three friendly French-speaking dining companions who were all very faithful Catholics and didn't mind that my French was by no means perfect (I know...hard to believe, but true!). One of them was Moroccan and gave me great tips on where to stay in Lourdes and Lisieux and even in Paris (turns out you can stay with the nuns and it's really cheap, something like 30 euros including ALL meals), and had some very interesting things to say about being Catholic, and the other two were French. We had a great conversation and the best part was that we all had considered not going there for some reason that day, but something had made us go. So, I was finally able to have a truly French meal (my first time trying paté, and it was actually really good!) and actually got to meet and talk to locals, something that would have otherwise been virtually impossible.
Seeing as the Moroccan woman had told me that I could stay with the sisters, I went to ask them afterwards if they had some information I could take with me, and the sister said yes and told me to wait for her. Since my comprehension isn't 100%, I wasn't sure what was going on, but it ended up that out came a sister from England, and we ended up having quite a long conversation that ranged from general feelings about Obama to World Youth Day and the Williamson controversy (which, sadly, is huge in Europe right now). She was really nice and gave me information on good times to come back and stay with them if I wanted to, and told me to email her just to give her updates on how things were going.
So after that I took the side stairs, avoiding the crowds that had since accumulated now that it was afternoon, and decided to go visit St. Vincent de Paul. After seeing him, I walked way longer than I should have while I was trying to find another church, St. Germain-des-Prés, due to the fact that I don't seem to be able to correctly interpret a map to save my life. But it was alright, because Paris seems to be the perfect place to get lost and even to wander aimlessly. I eventually found St. Germain-des-Prés, right next to where Sartre and Hemingway used to hang out. And when I walk in, what do I find but a Mass in Spanish! And the priest wasn't Spanish, either...in fact, I could have sworn he was Mexican, and the songs were exactly the same as the Spanish Mass at St. Paul's in Lexington, even including the song to the tune of Blowin' in the Wind and the Sound of Silence Our Father. There were quite a few Spanish-speakers there from Spain and Latin America, which really surprised me, and I couldn't find a real explanation anywhere except a simple description of the Mass as being for the "Spanish-speaking community". Of course, there were also a few French people there who looked a little lost and distracted, including a little old lady who asked me after Mass in French if I understood Spanish and if I could tell her what announcements the priest had made...it was truly bizarre.
Afterwards I finally got to have my nutella and banana crèpe and amused myself by looking at shops that look like they are so hidden on narrow, winding streets that no one could ever find them except by accident, and then it turns out that they are Prada or other ridiculously expensive designer stores.
And then today...I was too tempted by sleeping in to head to the Louvre as I had planned, but I did venture out into the rain to visit the Middle Ages museum in the afternoon, which I really liked. It ended up that I went at the perfect time, because it seemed like no matter where I was there was a group of school children on a tour, and apparently the language used to tell 10-year-olds about the Middle Ages is right at my level of French comprehension, so my visit was quite educational even though I was too cheap to pay for the Audio tour. I kept trying to pretend that I really wasn't that interested in what the children's guides were saying by staring determinedly at tapestries, but really I was hanging onto every word.
I tried to go to the Sainte-Chappelle after that, but it was (of course) closed. So then I thought that I'd just go to Notre Dame again and ended up getting picked up by a French guy who said he would accompany me to the Cathedral and then treat me to a drink. He was pretty amusing and I really just wanted to know what he would say, and since I didn't have any plans I said okay.
But boy, did his audacity exceed my feeble American expectations! He managed to turn every single thing I said into a pick-up line. It was hilarious. And he kept trying even while I sat there laughing at him! Here is a sample:

Me: So where do you live in Paris?
French guy: A little outside the city. It's a nice house. Would you like to see it?

And another:
French guy: Have you gone up the Eiffel Tower?
Me: No, not this time. It's too expensive.
French guy: I'll pay for you! Let's go!

And here is my best translation of what I consider to be the funniest thing he said:
French guy: So what are your plans for later?
Me: Go back to my hotel and pack.
French guy: Don't you need someone to help you close your suitcase?

Anyway, despite all of his most valiant efforts (most of which are unfit to type), I made it very clear that I could close my own suitcase quite well, thank you. He didn't try to follow me or anything, which was quite a relief, but did ask for my email because he said he wanted to visit me in Spain in May. I couldn't believe that anyone could say such ridiculous things and yet be so sincere, but the whole encounter did give me a great laugh and allowed me to use the verb "draguer" (to hit on, as in "Do you make a habit of hitting on American girls?") in conversation, which I have been wanting to do ever since I learned that word in French 101.
So, I bought some pastries and went back to my apartment and will start packing. Tomorrow the transport service is coming at 9:30 to take me to the airport, where I have a full day of traveling...a flight to Toulouse and then a train from Toulouse to Lourdes. So far I haven't planned anything in Lourdes...I'm kind of expecting it to be rewarding enough just to walk outside and see pretty much anything and start talking to the other pilgrims, but I'm also thinking that I should probably start looking up events so that I don't miss out on something.