Day 25: Pompidou, Notre Dame Bell Tower and Shakespeare & Co.

Today has been such a busy day and I feel like I can't even remember all of it, plus I don't have much time to blog tonight because I have so much to do before tomorrow.  So I'll quickly tell you the major details of my wonderful day!

I went to the Pompidou museum which is France's modern and contemporary art.  Courtney our teacher gave us a two hour lecture on major styles from the 1900s to the 2000s.  I personally don't like modern and contemporary art so I wasn't really interested in looking around much, but here are some things I saw.

After the Pompidou we were set free to do whatever.  Lauren and I decided to go to the Notre Dame Bell Tower :) We got crepes and then waited in line for about an hour and then we got to go up.  About 600 plus stairs later we made it to the top!  Here is the amazing view and some of the pictures I took.

We were so close to Shakespeare & Co. the book store so we had to go inside :) I got The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and even got the official stamp inside!  We went to Subway for dinner and then headed back to our hotel.

When we got back to the hotel we only had an hour till we had to meet up with the group for a photo excursion.  I have so much homework so I worked on that as much as I could but still didn't finish.  We went over to the Bohemian District, went and saw Moulin Rouge (which I had no idea what it was), and then watched one of the students do a photo shoot which was the funniest thing ever.  My teacher dressed up as a girl! I got some good pictures of it!

We then walked some more up the hill to this huge chapel and the lookout was amazing! There were so many people there and there was also this really cool black guy balancing a soccer ball on a light pole.  He had some serious muscles and it was so cool watching him!

Our "photo excursion" didn't really turn into a photo excursion and we were allowed to do whatever we wanted.  A group of us decided to leave so we went down into the town and did a little wandering around.  Most of the group went to the Arc de Triomphe but Lauren and I came back to the hotel to get things ready for tomorrow and finish our homework.  Well I'm off to finish my homework so I apologize for this short and not very exciting post! I'll be posting about my day tomorrow, I'm going to DISNEYLAND!!

Day 24: The Orsay, The Rodin Museum, and Shopping

Today has been such an amazing day! I know I might say that about every day but it really has been a great day! We went to the Orsay and I absolutely LOVED it! It's like the more and more museums I go to the more I fall in love with Art History.  The one thing I was mostly excited about was to see Degas Little Dancer sculpture :) My mom gave me the book when I was little with a necklace and I will never forget it! So thanks mom for giving me a little piece of art that I now appreciate sooo much! I bought a children's book so that I can read it and give it to my own daughter someday! :)

We wandered through the museum and I was on cloud nine looking at art :) We met back up with the group and then we were set off to do our own thing the rest of the day.  Lauren and I knew exactly where we were headed...The Salad Bar! It was the most amazing meal I have had since I have been here.  It was so fresh and soo delicious!

After lunch Lauren and I wandered around Paris trying to find the Rodin Museum.  It was so windy and cold and was raining a little bit, so you can only imagine how funny it was so watch us try and read the map while holding our umbrellas and walk :)  We finally found it and went to get our assignment done quick but surprisingly really enjoyed it.  It was all sculptures which was different from other museums we've been to but I actually really liked it! Here are some pictures of the famous ones :)

 The Thinker

 The Burghers of Calais

 The Three Shades

The Kiss

After the Rodin Museum we headed down to Champs Avenue and did some shopping, oh and we ran into the Arc de Triomphe as well :) It was like I was in a dream! I still can't believe I am in Paris!

While shopping we went to the Nike store and I got a really cute Paris shirt that I'm excited to wear and work out in!  We also happened to come upon some Abercrombie and Fitch models so of course you have to take a picture ;)  Sorry Pete... :) just remember how much I love you!!

So I also found my new favorite ice cream (and I even like it better than Chocolate Banana Shakes)...Haagen-Dazs CHOCOLATE BANANA BROWNIE ice cream :) It is amazing!!!! :) I can't even describe how happy it made me!!  

After that we headed back to our hotel and it started pouring rain! I feel like Lauren and I have a lot of pictures with our umbrellas because it is always raining here!

We stayed inside and worked on homework and had a personal lecture with my Art History teacher on Versailles! It was an hour filled with sooo much information but I loved it!  Then after that I had the best time FaceTiming Pete :) It literally was the best conversation! He made me laugh, smile, and fall even more in love with him! We even got to play charades because he couldn't hear me at the end :) and that was sure fun!  After that I worked on my blog and got ready for bed.  I have a busy day tomorrow so I hope I can actually get some good sleep tonight.  I didn't eat at McDonald's today so I'm hoping that will make a difference ;)

Day 23: The Louvre :)

Today has been a really good day but an exhausting one!  I got lucky and got to sleep in today because our teacher took a different class to lecture for the first half of the day and my class got to go at noon :) We went to the Louvre and I literally fell in love with Art History even more!  It was amazing and so incredibly big! Apparently if you spent 30 seconds looking at each painting or artwork then it would take over 3 months to see the entire thing! Isn't that crazy?!  Our teacher took us to some of her favorite artworks and as she taught us about the paintings it hit me that I love Art History to the point that I am going to look into minoring in it now :) Here are some of the paintings that I learned about from Jacques-Louis David.

After our teacher's lecture we were free to roam the museum and work on our assignment.  You'll never guess the first thing I went to...MONA LISA! It was nothing like I expected it to be though.  It was tiny and there were hundreds of people crowding around it so you could barely look at it enough to appreciate it.  I was more intrigued with the crowds rather than the actual painting haha so I decided to take my picture with a sign showing where Mona Lisa was...it was the closest I could actually get to the painting other than the zoom from my camera ;)

After that Lauren and I spent the next three hours working on our homework looking at pictures and searching for sculptures but it sure was fun!  We spent a good 5 hours in the Louvre!! :) I got a little book about some of the artwork in the Louvre and I seriously can't wait to read more about them and teach them to my family and future family :)

After the Louvre a group of us walked down the street to a little shopping area.  We kinda split up and Lauren and I did our own thing.  We went into many different stores and finally found Mango (the store we've been looking for).  I got some new jeans and can't wait to wear them!!  We were exhausted from our long day that we decided to get food.  I bet you already know where we went...McDonald's for the THIRD time today! We went there for lunch, to get ice cream after the Louvre, AND dinner.  I am not going to ever want McDonald's when I get home but it's the cheapest and quickest thing here in Europe...

When we were done with dinner we came home just in time to miss getting caught in the rain.  We spent most of the night in the lobby because the WiFi wasn't working very well.  Here is what Lauren and I are collecting...WiFi tickets ;)

When we came back up to our room and started getting ready for bed it kinda just hit both of us that we are ready to come home.  It's not that we don't love it here because we do! It's just really hard being away from home and you start missing the little things like clean clothes, nice bed, fresh water, and good WiFi.  But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I was supposed to come to Europe to experience all this, both the good and the bad, so that I can appreciate what I do have at home.  I don't know how I would do it without WiFi, even if it sucks at times...but if I wasn't able to talk to my family or Pete back at home then I probably would have been ready to come home on day 1.  So I am so grateful for the WiFi that I do have.  I am also grateful for a hotel room that gives me the shelter I need to get the tiny amount of sleep I do get.  I feel so bad for those people I see every day just living in the metro stations.  I see people sleeping on stairs or newspaper that has been laid on the ground and it makes me so grateful for the safe hotel I do have.  I am also grateful for the food I have to eat, even if it's McDonald's chicken nuggets, fries, and a Coca-Cola Light EVERY day.  I am grateful for the strength it gives me to continue throughout my day and for the stomach aches it gives me that makes me stay up late to get things done.  I could go on and on about the things I am grateful for, even though at times I may not seem like I am.  And I may not have everything like I do at home, but I know that I was given this opportunity to experience all this so I could realize how good I do have it at home. 

I have less than a week now to experience more that Paris has to offer and I know it will go by extremely fast so I just have to focus on the positive things and keep drinking Coca-Cola Light while I still can ;)

Day 22: Versailles

Today we headed to Versailles! The morning started off cold but I wasn't expecting it to down pour.  We got on the metro and got to a train station.  We took an hour train to get there and the stop was closed so we had to walk for 15 minutes in the pouring rain.  My boots already had a hole in the bottom and within minutes my socks and feet were cold and wet.  When we got there it got colder and the wind got worse.  Our directors advised us to go to the gardens first because there wouldn't be as many people there, so Lauren and I got our umbrellas and did just that.  It was so cold for the first part that we didn't even want to take pictures.  But then I decided that this is a once in a life time experience so I put the umbrella away, took out my camera, and just started taking pictures of everything!  The gardens were so pretty and incredibly green!  The gardens were probably my favorite part of Versailles! :)

Lauren and I were tired of walking in the rain so we decided to have a little fun ;) We mimicked the statues and took tons of random pictures! We probably looked ridiculous but it was so much fun!

We wandered around the gardens more and found so many interesting things! It just kept going and going!  We only had a couple more hours and we still had to see the palace so we decided to leave the gardens.  I was sad that I wasn't able to see the whole thing, but I guess that means I'll have to come back again ;)

When we got out of the gardens the line to get in the palace was sooo long! We got lucky and saw some of our group so we got in line with them.  We waited about half an hour and then finally got in! It was so cool! 

When we walked inside we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.  It was so incredibly packed with people.  There were more people there than I have ever seen, even more than Disneyland! Crazy huh??  It wasn't even enjoyable because there were so many tourists pushing and shoving you around.  I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if there wasn't so many people.  The worst part about it was that Lauren and I got split up :( It was the scariest thing.  I felt completely alone and didn't know what to do.  I felt sick to my stomach and I just kept saying a little prayer that we would find each other.  I spent the rest of the time walking around trying to find Lauren and she did the same trying to find me.  I came out of the palace and she wasn't there so I decided to sit on a little bench by the exit and just wait.  It was right as I sat down that she came walking down the stairs.  We both were so relieved to find each other!  After that we could not wait to get out of the crowds so we left and went to go find food.  You'll never guess where we ate...McDonald's :)

We met back up with the group and got on a train to go back to our hotel.  When we got to our hotel we changed into our sweats and got out of our wet clothes! I finally threw away my boots!

We spent the rest of the night working on editing and uploading pictures and just relaxing :) We decided to go out and get a Coca-Cola Light so we could at least say we did something other than stay inside the whole night ;) I will never forget that wonderful experience at the mini mart in Paris! :)  We came back and just hung out in our room while listening to music.  I also got to FaceTime my mom which literally made my night! It was sooo good to talk to her! I miss her and my family so much!  Lauren and I ended the very cold but good day with some pillow talk! :)

Day 21: J'amie Paris

Today has probably been one of the most amazing days ever! Although it didn't really start that way...when I first woke up I was ready to come home.  I think by that point I was just missing home and I was exhausted.  Our shower didn't keep all the water in, so our bathroom flooded and the shower water made us itch like crazy.  I also miss having clean clothes and a nice warm bed.  But anyways...after getting ready and meeting the group we were given little metro tickets that we could only use once.  We had to make sure to keep them straight of which one we used just in case they come around and check.  We got on the metro and went to Saint Chapelle.  Even though the picture may not show it (taking pictures in cathedrals is the hardest thing for me...) it had the most amazing stain glass windows!

After that we went over to Notre Dame :) It was soo cool! It made me really want to watch the movie!  We were only able to go inside today but we want to go back and go up to the bell towers :)

When we were done inside of Notre Dame, Lauren and I went to a little cafe and had lunch.  We shared a ham and cheese sandwich and the most amazing crepe!  I have a feeling that crepe's are going to be my weakness in Paris!  After lunch we wandered around some souvenir shops and then somehow ended up at lover's bridge!  The bridge was covered in locks! It was so cool! It made me really wish Pete was here with me so our love could be locked in Paris ;)

We had to meet back up with the group to head to the Cluny museum.  Lauren and I went through it extremely fast and then had an hour to wait for the rest of the group so we just sat on a bench outside and relaxed!  

Then we headed to the Pantheon.  It use to be a church but it was made into a mausoleum for famous French celebrities like Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, and many more!  But before we headed in, we turned around and saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time in the distance.  My heart about dropped! It was sooo close and I wanted to go to it right away! :) I can't believe I am actually in Paris!!

After the Pantheon we headed home so we could get dinner before we headed to the Eiffel Tower for photography :)  We went to some Japanese place!  I feel like I am trying all these new types of food over here, and I'm actually surprisingly liking a lot of them! :) I even got pretty good at using chop sticks!

On our way to the Eiffel Tower we stopped at the Inception bridge which was pretty cool! We were all freaking out about how close we were to the Eiffel Tower though so we didn't stay there long.

I can't believe I actually am at the EIFFEL TOWER!! :) :) :) I was like a little girl on Christmas and got butterflies just seeing it! It is amazing! It was so much better than I ever expected it to be!

We walked right up to it and I was in awe! It was huge! I just wanted to stay here forever! There were so many couples laying on the grass having a little picnic that it made me miss Pete so much! I can't wait to someday come back with him! :)  We got there around 8:00 pm and watched the sunset while setting up our tripods for the big show!  My photography teacher was very proud to call us his students :) For any of you thinking about doing a study abroad...DO IT! How amazing is it that I am taking a photography class in EUROPE! It's so much better than sitting in a classroom!

Around 9:45 we all started getting our cameras set up and we were all just sitting around talking when all of a sudden the most amazing thing happened...the Eiffel Tower started sparkling!!!! I have never been so excited! It was the prettiest thing ever!  I just sat there in awe and how amazing it was!!  We waited around for the next hour and tried different exposures with our cameras.  It was so much fun! 

We stuck around till 11:00 pm for the last sparkle and it was the most amazing way to end our night! I can't believe all the amazing things I have been able to do and see today :) I can't wait to Versailles tomorrow!