Fondue + Wine = Good Times

Kristin Franke

Grant Franke

Donna Gee

Donna, Kristin, & I enjoyed a bottle of champagne with Gerrard, the owner of the apartment we rented for the week. It was a good start after our long train ride. (16 hours!)

Our tiny kitchen in the rented flat

Afterwards, we set off for a night out that turned out to be crazier than anticipated. It began on a relaxed note, hanging out at the Sacre-Coeur Basilique (Sacred Heart Basilica). From there we wandered around the Mont Matre shopping and cafe district where I was rebuffed from taking a picture of an old painter. He looked like a salty sailor and had a wicked beard!

The steps of the Sacred Heart Basilica

Dinner was at a fondue place called Refuge des Fondus where customers get to climb over the table, & wine is served from baby bottles. Kitsch, but fun. While there we met another group of 3 frenchmen, Garrick, Quentin, and Latitia.

The restaurant

The appetizers

Our delicious cheese fondue and baby bottles of wine

After dinner and 500mL of wine each, we set off to find mojitos & drink them at the most obvious of party locations in Paris - the steps of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica. It felt a little sacrilegious, but there were probably at least 100 other people doing the same thing.

From L to R: Quentin, Garrick, Letitia, Donna, Kristin

Mojitos in hand on the steps

All in all, we had a good time & made it home safely. Though it was crazy, & we slept in quite a bit the next morning. I guess we just wanted to start Paris off with a bang!