Last night a few members of the group and I were hanging out on the steps of Sacre Coeur.  Stepping back and looking at the city in its entirety really gave me a greater appreciation for Paris.  I was able to see how intricate the city is.  Trying to navigate through the Paris can be confusing and frustrating but seeing it as a whole made Paris seem so much simpler.  All one had to do was sit back and look.  I could see Notre Dame, which was completed in 1345, next to the Centre Pompidou, which opened in 1977, all in one glance.  It made me realize just how much history lies within Paris.  We later got up and began to walk around the area.  Since it was Fete de la Musique bands were playing everywhere.  One of my favorite groups was a French Funk cover band.  They were wearing hilarious retro outfits and were playing some of my favorite songs.  Seeing Parisians in this absurd manner gave me a different perspective on the cities culture.  They did not fit the strict and quite stereotype at all.  It made me feel a lot better about being a goofy American in a city filled with immense beauty and history.  Last night allowed me to see Paris in a whole new light.