Saturday morning began with fresh croissants and coffee from a small neighborhood bakery, the kind that makes you instantly understand why the French take pastry so seriously. The city was in the middle of a trash strike, and while piles lined the streets, Paris somehow still managed to look charming — the smell of butter and coffee more than made up for it.

Our day started with a 10:00 A.M. tour of the Louvre. Nothing prepares you for its size; it feels like an entire city of art. Seeing the Mona Lisa was a bit surreal — not because of the painting itself, but because of the chaos surrounding it. Dozens of phones held high, everyone jockeying for a photo of a painting smaller than most expected. It was a bit of a scene, but also part of the experience — a modern spectacle around a Renaissance masterpiece.

Afterward, we wandered through the Tuileries Gardens, where locals and tourists alike lounged by the fountains under a rare blue sky. In the afternoon, the guys headed off for the Catacombs, while the rest of us explored above ground. The Catacombs hold the remains of over six million Parisians, moved there in the 18th century to relieve overcrowded cemeteries. The tunnels stretch for miles beneath the city — dark, solemn, and strangely peaceful.

Our evening ended near the Panthéon, where the architecture alone feels like a history lesson. Inside lie figures who shaped not just French history but the modern world: Voltaire, Rousseau, Marie Curie, and Victor Hugo. It was humbling to stand among so many minds that inspired revolutions, discoveries, and change — much like the democratic ideals that later took root in America.

Despite the city’s strikes and protests, Paris moved at its own rhythm that day — messy, brilliant, and alive.