Day 23 (Versailles)

We got up a little early for my liking in order to go visit the Palace of Versailles. However, it was well worth the sleepy eyes. The Palace was huge and the ornamentation unbelievable. I don't know how often I'll have to talk about my breath being taken away on this trip, but it's absolutely true. You cannot even imagine the size and splendor until you are standing before it's massive golden gates. Probably one of the most impressive rooms was the Queen's bed chamber. It's awe inspiring to think about the connection that this place has to history and how unfortunate that it's beauty will forever be marred by such a tragic end. The gardens are also perfectly exquisite, full of color and life. The only unfortunate part to this trip was that I felt terribly ill. I don't know what was wrong, it think the heat had finally got to me. Ever since we arrived in Paris we've been dealing with a terrible heat wave which is no doubt intensified due to the fact that there is no air-conditioning in the entire country of France! I don't deal well with the heat so after a few days I began to feel very faint. After our visit, we went out to eat at this fancy restaurant to say our goodbyes as the rest of the girls will be leaving tomorrow morning.

Day 22 (Paris)

Today we went to the Louvre Museum. There was a bit of chaos as our group got separated. I don't know if you know this...but there are over 10K people that visit the Louvre each day. The likelihood of finding each other is minimal. However, by happy chance, Dr. Mehta decided to take one more look for rest of group before our tour was supposed to start and there they were coming down the escalator. The Louvre is amazing. We saw so many fantastic peices. There was Winged Victory, which is my favorite Hellenistic sculpture, Raft of the Medusa, a Romantic painting by Theodore Gericault, and Oath of the Horatii, by David. Of course we also saw the Mona Lisa which I think is a little over rated. Of all so Da Vinci's work, it's probably one of my least favorites, but for some reason everyone goes gaga over it. Sadly, our tour of the Lourve only lasted about an hour which is absolutely sacrilegious. Luckily, since I'm staying extra, I have a whole day saved to just explore it. After the Louvre, Dr. Mehta had a trip planned to the US Embassy. We met with Jaffar Diab, the Vice Consul. He discussed some of the differences between the US and France, changing US-French relations, and the work that is done at the Embassy. I was in my element. We had lots of time to ask questions. I think I hogged the floor a bit asking about everything from our relationship with Cuba to the power of the UN. They also have an internship program there which I am definitely going to apply for. This visit was wonderful, I learned so much. Our visit went over the time we were allotted, but it was worth missing our next schedule activity, visiting the Orsay Museum. By the time that we got done there would have only been an hour to visit the museum so I decided to skip in so that I could rest a bit before going on a boat ride on the Seine river. The boat ride was a lot of fun. Lauren, Tia, and I sat together on the edge of the boat and giggle and laughed the whole time ("What's that for?...Pirates! What is that for?...You really want to know?...Yes...Pirates!"). The views were spectacular (especially when we got mooned, Tia was blushing for 15 minutes) and we even got to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up, it was gorgeous.

Day 21 (Paris)

Today was a relatively free day. We were give the morning to do with what we liked. Everyone split up Tia and Lauren headed to the fashion museum (which Lauren and I will probably go to again once the group leaves, a couple of girls went to the Erotic museum, and me and Mollie went to Napoleon's Tomb and the Museum of the Army. The tomb was amazing. It was made of a gorgeous red wood that was terribly grand. Everything in it made your jaw drop. It's simply amazing; everywhere you turn in Paris there is architecture and art of infinate splendor and beauty. After the tomb we went to the Hotel des Invalides which was originally built to house injured and retired soldiers but now houses the Museum of the Army. It was so interesting. It had several departments including the two world wars, medieval armor, and modern war. It was fantastic to go through and see all the old war uniforms from all different campaigns and intricate suits of armor that belonged to various French kings. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the whole museum because we had to meet back up with the rest of the group to visit the Rodin Museum. I know this is going to sound sacrilegious, but I'm a big fan of Rodin. I prefer classical and neo-classical sculpture so most of Rodin's work just looks sloppy to me. And the Thinker is over-rated. However, it was funny to watch all of the tourist walking around trying to imitate the positions of Rodin's sculptures. I did like the room that housed Camille Claudel's (Rodin's pupil). In particular, I enjoyed L'Age Mur which has particular resonance for me.