8e Arrt.

            My favorite part of the eighth arrondissement was actually right outside the first district and Le Louvre. After just a short walk, you find the Place de la Concorde and its beautifully detailed mermaids spitting water in a lovely fountain display. There are multiple fountains and light poles all surrounding an unusual object: the Obelisk. The Obelisk was gifted to the French from Egypt viceroy.


 The Obelisk was once part of the ancient Luxor temple. It’s so interesting to see how the ancient societies intermix in cases such as these. Even though communication and transportation was a lot more difficult in those days, they were still able to create relationships within their different countries and even organize the shipment of a giant stone gift. We were wondering through Le Louvre gardens after dinner with Taylor’s family and ended up spending the sunset admiring the Place de la Concorde instead of walking through the whole garden.
            Further down the road is the L’église de la Madeleine, which is striking.  It is a roman catholic church, and it definitely looks like it. With large booming columns lining the front of the church, it makes you feel like you’re right in Rome. The first time I saw it was in the evening but I had another chance to see it in the light of the day, and it was even more spectacular. The ridges down the column are all perfectly equivalent. It is mind blowing to think that something as grand as that was built by human hands.
            Although our first indulgence in the wonderful Ladurée was the first week, our love didn’t end there. We made a stop into our favorite macaroon shop and apparently everyone else did too. It was packed! This shop was a lot bigger than the booth in Le Louvre. The decorations are absolutely adorable. I felt like Marie Antoinette as I ate my extremely expensive tiny macaroon cookies. Did Taylor spend 60€ on macaroons? Yes. But did we feel like princesses while we ate them? Absolutely, peasant.
            The market prices were very similar to the surrounding districts. Milk was 1.43€, eggs were 3.98€ and steak was 31.25€/kg. We found a nearby Hotel named Hotel Alison for only 108€ a night which is a great deal especially for everything close by. Maybe next time I will stay there and spend the extra money I saved on more macaroons.