My Friend Dave and I visited Paris for the first time on April 13. We were on our third night in Paris and on our way to dinner. During our walk, we both noticed how cool the sky was looking. The color of the sky was orange, yellow and purple, which made me pull out my phone to take a picture. Little did I know the most iconic building in Paris was burning.  

We got a table outside and heard the sirens of fire and medical ambulances. Sipping on our drinks, we noticed the worried faces on the waiters, and around the same time we both got notifications on our phone that Notre Dame was on fire. My initial reaction was to joke that we should have had our Notre Dame tour the previous day instead of the next day.  

I will always remember that I was eating Beef Bourguignon, which is a French beef braised stew. The stew had a buttery sauce with carrots and potatoes. My friend’s meal was not as memorable as he ordered medium-rare steak that was cooked well done. That was the second surprise of the night to find out that Paris is not known for their steaks.