Paris: Day 3

Ok, so you guessed it, at this time ART 361 is still in Paris. By now, its Monday (April 11th, 2011) and its day 3 of the trip. 

Today, I got up and we had to pack up all of our luggage because we were leaving the hostel to stay in a hotel for the rest of the trip. Apparently, our teacher (Martine) had had trouble finding us accommodations because we were such a large group, so she took what she could get, a hostel for the first 2 nights, and a hotel for the rest. Once we got everything situated with bags and such, we left the hostel to walk to the Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris).

ART 361 minus the Missouri kids

From the Pont Neuf, we went to the Conciergerie, which was part of the palace of Louis IX along with the Sainte Chapelle until the 14th century when Charles V abandoned it for the Louvre. The palace was then left in the hands of the Concierge, who turned it into a jail. Famous people such as Marie Antoinette were kept prisoner there.

Inside the Concergerie

Elisa, Janice, Stacey, and Emily at the Tower Bonbec

 Next stop on our agenda was Les Invalides. We got there and ate a quick lunch in the cafeteria where Casey and I got to meet a delightful couple from California who were traveling to Paris for the first time. I don't know what it is about me, but I simply love hearing people's life stories, especially those who are traveling. They always talk with such a sense of adventure and seem as though they have a wealth of knowledge about them. After lunch, we actually got to tour Les Invalides and see Napoleon's tomb.

Les Invalides

 

 

Elisa, Casey, and I outside Les Invalides

Napoleon's Tomb

Inside Les Invalides

 Following the Dome, we waited to find some of the guys in the group who had wandered off to the Museum of War. Eventually, Martine got fed up and we went to the lawn outside Les Invalides and listened to some student presentations before we walked across the Sienne to stop at Place de Concorde to arrive at the art museum, the Orangerie.

Outside, Martine gave us Napoleons!

Dane, Elisa, Casey, and I crossing the Sienne

Orangerie

After having experienced some of Monet's works and finding my new favorite painting of the little boy dressed like a clown, I felt it was time for a nutella crepe. NOM NOM NOM. Then, the class walked through the Tuileries gardens designed by Le Notre, the gardener of Versailles to get to the Comedie Francaise where instead of me giving my presentation about Moliere which would have made sense given that is where Moliere played and died, Martine talked about Moliere and made me wait to talk until Wednesday. Following the Comedie Francaise, we went to the Basilica Notre-Dame des Victoires. This church is interesting for a few reasons. Number 1, Lully's tomb is found there. Lully was the composer of many of Moliere's works. Number 2, Queen Anne of Austria went to this church to pray asking her wish of giving the king a son a reality, and she did 9 months later! So, its a magical church where prayers come true. Number 3, in honor of this pilgrimage place, the church did a promotional thing where people could donate to the church and get their "thank yous" written on bricks that would then be used in the renovation of the church, so all over you would see bricks saying things like "Thank You for Helping My Father" or "Thank you for helping me ace that final," etc.

Monet's water lilles

BEST PICTURE EVER!

 After we left the Basilica, we went to another church, Saint Eustache, where the tomb of Colbert is found. We split the group after the church and we returned to the hotel to move our luggage from the hostel to the hotel. This process was a nightmare! 40 plus students with all their luggage trying to take the metros they don't really know to get to a hotel they had never been to before. Ahhh....hot mess. In the end we made it. Only to realize, Elisa, Casey, Dane, Stacy, and I were the last ones there. Since the Missouri kids were leaving the next day, Stacy wasn't allowed to room with us, so Casey, Elisa, and I went to our "4" person room, which only had 3 beds! WHAT? That's right, once again Casey and I got the shaft. Apparently the plan was for 2 of us to share a bed while the other 2 got their own double beds. I was pissed, so upset in fact that Elisa and Casey shared a bed, so I could have my own.

After the whole hupla of the hotel was situated, we met up with Stacy and went out to the Champs Elysee so Elisa could pick out an outfit to wear at Versailles the next day. 2 hours passed, and by now we were all quite hungry so we found a restaurant on a side street and ate there. We had some delicious food, which happened to include escargots! When we were done with dinner, we took some pictures at the Arc du Triomphe, then we took the metro back to the hotel. On the way back we even got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle one more time!

Janice, Casey, and Elisa at Arc de Triomphe