I love holiday weekends
Trip Start
Jul 28, 2008
1
9
17
Trip End
Aug 30, 2008
Paris,
Île-de-France,
France
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The week itself was good, especially after I got over the terrifying attack of the birds. I braved Luxumberg gardens again right after that to go to a concert there with my friend Jacqueline. It was a cool concert with a group who took a lot of influence from southern france and, in my opinion, its colonies (Africa and the Carribean). It definately sounded like the stuff that I took a dance class to in Martinique. After that, I had been planning to go on the bateau mouche, a boat cruise on the seine, with my program, but the ride was cancelled due to weather. Fortunately, they gave us tickets that can be used any time so I can be a tourist for free!
On Tuesday I was in class all day (ugghhh), but I find that class is a nice break from the whirlwind of trying to be "Parisien." In class, everyone knows I'm an American and they are fascinated by the fact that my French is actually good AND I seem to be interested in their cultures as well
Concert in the Garden
. Apparently their media has informed them that Americans don't care enough about other cultures to learn languages or listen to other cultural norms. Of course, by being open like I am, I end up in really deep conversations about 9/11, the war, the economy, oil, and of course, our next presidential election. Wednesday was nice. A friend of mine from school was visiting Paris with her family for a few days and invited me to spend the afternoon with them. It was kind of nice to actually just be a tourist for an afternoon instead of trying to "immerse." We went to the Centre Pompidou, which is a museum for modern art, and the Louvre, which is just amazing. I still love Mona Lisa despite the fact that most people find her disappointing. I just like how her eyes follow you as you walk across the room. We also went out to dinner where we all got hamburgers and fries, which I hadn't realized I was even missing. After all, the bread and cheese and ice cream here should more than make up for the levels of fat in my diet ;). In all, it was a nice day, but I got back later than I expected so it was a difficult next day of 6 hours of class.
The next day, though, one highlight, is that I got to see (from the outside) the Hotel des Invalides, which is where Napoleon is buried. After reading War and Peace, I feel like I must pay homage to the antagonist and actually go inside, and hopefully time will allow me to.
Then we reach friday. Fete day. No School
The chandelier that "fell" in Phantom
. YAY.I had a very nice day yesterday. We finally got to the Garnier Opera House which is the Opera House that the Phantom of the Opera was set in. Super Cool! There is even a lake underneath the building, but unfortunately, we were not able to see that part. The rest of the Opera is really beautiful, especially the ceiling. It is a post-impressionist ceiling that just blew my mind when I first stepped into the actual theatre. Hopefully my pictures can do it some sort of justice. After that, we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe since it was right nearby and it is my family's tradition to visit the famous restaurant every time we are in an area that houses it. This Hard Rock was rather petit, but i was happy to see it just the same and the hot cocoa I had there was phenomenal.
After that, we thought we would walk along the Canal in Paris because we had both heard that it had pretty views, lots of food, and shopping. we definately got the views and the food, but there was little shopping to be found. I'm blaming it on the fact that it is a holiday in August, so maybe alot of the normal retailers were closed. In any case, I was sad because for once, I was very ready to shop and there wasn't any!
That, so far has been my weekend. I'm really happy to have gone to those things and checked them off of my incredibly long, ever growing list. Today, I know that we will be heading to the Rodin museum with a packed picnic to have lunch in the garden surrounded by his sculptures. That should pretty much be... amazing.
Comments
Enjoy Your Holiday!
I look forward to all your great pictures. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time.Enjoy your last couple of weeks there. Stay safe. We miss you.
Wish I was there
I would love a 3-day vacation and see what you are seeing. The pictures are great. You ROCK!!!!!