Friday, Nov. 27th we went to Sacre Coeur, which is a more modern church. Here's what is online on the church's website:

The Basilica was designed by Paul Abadie. Six other architects succeeded him to complete the building.

• 1875 : First stone laid followed by several months of foundation works. Pits 33 metres deep had to be dug which when filled in became pillars that supported the building. Without these pillars the Basilica would have sunk into the soil.
• 1878 : Work begins on the crypt.
• 1881 : Work begins on the Basilica proper.
• 1914 : Everything is ready for the consecration, including the bell tower that houses the Savoyarde, a 19-tonne bell, but the breakout of World War 1 in 1914 puts it on hold.
• 1919 : The consecration takes place on 16 October.

Walking up the street of souvenir shops to Sacre Coeur. Tyler, Austin, Josh.

Walking up the souvenir street shop. Michelle, Janae, Skyler, with Seth and Jess in the background.

After we took this picture (above), we walked up the walkway to the church and got accosted by a handful of African guys! They started grabbing our wrists and making "bracelets" with thick thread on them. It would have been fine if they were funny salesmen, but they were aggressive! They kept grabbing different peoples wrists or hands. When we said to stop or let go, they wouldn't! It was very tense and we were watching carefully to make sure they didn't take anything from us. It was quite upsetting! We finally got away from them, and when Dave saw some armed forces people higher up the path, he told them what had happened. They went down and hung around the guys, and then later the police showed up and made them leave. I'm glad that we didn't have to go through that at every attraction! 

Brooke, Skyler, Tyler and Josh riding the tram down the hill.

 A little corner outdoor cafe where we got lunch.

There were pigeons everywhere we went in Paris. And they weren't afraid of people at all. In fact, one time a bunch of them flew out from under a van at Dave and scared him half to death!

 Austin and Tyler went off on their own on Friday afternoon to meet up with a girl that they had met at church. Unfortunately, they never found her and so they just hung out together. Later they were able to text her and figure out how they had missed each other. That was a bummer.

The rest of us went into this chocolate/sweet shop. (Below) They had really cool chocolate sculptures!

Getting free samples. OOooo, it was delicious chocolate!

A ship made out of chocolate.

A Porsche car made out of chocolate.

Chocolate Eiffel Tower

Eating macarons.

Eating macarons.

 Skyler had the idea to take the kids for a while and let me and Dave go off for a date alone! That was so nice of him/them. So Dave and I went to this nice little restaurant and ordered soup and creme brulee. It was delicious and warm! (It was so cold outside that day.) We had a refreshingly nice time together. It was nice to be alone, after not having gone on a date for 2 1/2 months! 

The kids went here together, to the Pantheon.

Dave and I got some groceries, and then we all met back up at the apartment for dinner. We had planned to go to the Galleries Lafayette after dinner, but everyone felt like staying home. So we vegged for a while and then played some games.

Chillin' out at the apartment: