19-21 juillet-- Versailles, Strasbourg, Medieval Museum
Bonjour!
Just an update of my weekend to let everyone know where pictures are and such.
19 July-
We left at 9:00 am Saturday morning to go to Versailles, and finally got there around 11am. Apparently, parts of the track we needed to take on the RER C were closed. Anyway, so we get in and it's cool and all, but not really any more impressive than the Louvre to be honest. The only room I was honestly impressed with was the Hall of Mirrors. THAT was awesome. The gardens however were the really cool part. They go on forever, it seems like! Marie Antoinette's village is also really cool but at the same time weird because, like, she had her own village to play in... somebody needs to get out a little bit. No wonder the guillotined the naive wench! The pictures for the day are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252061&l=b59ef&id=7017887
and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252133&l=74278&id=7017887
After we got back from Versailles, we rested for a while and then I went out with some of the other people in our group to the St. Michel area, which was cool. We almost went in a gay dance bar that had half-naked men and I surely would've been okay with that, but SOMEONE had to be insecure about their sexuality. The group ended up in two different bars (across the street from each other). Edith and I wanted to dance so we went in this place called Georges which had tables and a dancefloor. It was great! They played numa numa! (if you've never heard that, you've either been living in a shed for the past 4 years or you're my momma. in any case, here's the famous video from youtube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o because it never gets unfunny) We got in about 1:45ish am.
20 July-
Started the day far too early, with getting up at 6:15am to get ready to go to Strasbourg. We left the dorm right before 7 and our train left at 7:24am. We got to the train station at like, 7:15. Needless to say, we had to run. We made it with like 5 minutes or so to spare, but still. Did not want to get there only to have the doors close in front of us, that'd be bad. I so slept the entire two hours there. It was really cool once we got there though.
Highlights:
the cathedral is HUGE and SCARY and is WAYYYYYY bigger than Notre Dame in paris. The inside's pretty, but they were in the middle of mass when we got there so I felt a bit intrusive. This is the church where Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on door, which is really cool. There's also an astronomical clock, which has both the days of the week and the time on it. There is supposed to be some sort of show for it at 12:30pm but apparently we missed it because nothing much happened. Strasbourg is also where Gutenberg invented the printing press, and as such there is a Plaza there dedicated to him. We took a river boat ride around the city which was cool. We got to see some stuff we probably wouldn't have made it to on foot, like the Council of Europe. We also went through two locks in the river which was interesting. Learned some nifty history about the city and such, and the guy who took our tickets was cute. We wanted to go see the Alsatian Museum (Alsace is the region in France where Strasbourg is located) but alas, it is apparently closed until fall. Boo. It has stuff from 600BC to 800AD of the Strasbourg/Alsatian region. My favorite part however, was the Archaeological Museum in the Palais Rohan (yes, Rohan like Lord of the Rings). I actually saw a Neanderthal skull in person and it was AMAZING. NO JOKE. I STILL GET REALLY EXCITED WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT AS YOU CAN SEE. Because the Alsatian Museum was closed, we ended up with about 2.5 extra hours we filled by walking along the river and taking a meal break at a café. We left Strasbourg at 6:30pm and arrived back in Paris just before 9. Pictures from Strasbourg are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252143&l=f0434&id=7017887
and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252151&l=caff3&id=7017887 (this one is just the musée archaeologique)
21 July-
I managed not to be TOO sore after the incredibly ridiculously long weekend, although my feet still hurt some. Today, I had class which was fine. I have alot of homework due tomorrow for both classes so I am trying to finish this ASAP. I don't think it will be too hard though, so that's good. There's just alot of it. Anyway, this afternoon, Marie and I went to the Cluny Museum which is the Middle Ages museum in Paris. It was really cool. Their main attraction is the tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn (La Dame et la Licorne). These tapestries were constructed in the 15th century and are a series. There are five which represent the different senses: smell, sight, touch, taste, and hearing. There's also a sixth one which is a mystery. The idea is that it represents a sixth sense, but no one really knows what it means. The tapestry only says, "My Only Desire" (or something to that affect). They are really gorgeous. I have some pictures of them, but unfortunately my camera died right after, so I don't have very many of that particular museum. I also don't really think it was worth 5.50 euros, I would've like to pay about 3 but whatever. It was still pretty cool.
Anyway, so that was my weekend + monday. Will update again next time there's something to talk about, I guess!
Á tout á l'heure!
Kaylin
Just an update of my weekend to let everyone know where pictures are and such.
19 July-
We left at 9:00 am Saturday morning to go to Versailles, and finally got there around 11am. Apparently, parts of the track we needed to take on the RER C were closed. Anyway, so we get in and it's cool and all, but not really any more impressive than the Louvre to be honest. The only room I was honestly impressed with was the Hall of Mirrors. THAT was awesome. The gardens however were the really cool part. They go on forever, it seems like! Marie Antoinette's village is also really cool but at the same time weird because, like, she had her own village to play in... somebody needs to get out a little bit. No wonder the guillotined the naive wench! The pictures for the day are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252061&l=b59ef&id=7017887
and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252133&l=74278&id=7017887
After we got back from Versailles, we rested for a while and then I went out with some of the other people in our group to the St. Michel area, which was cool. We almost went in a gay dance bar that had half-naked men and I surely would've been okay with that, but SOMEONE had to be insecure about their sexuality. The group ended up in two different bars (across the street from each other). Edith and I wanted to dance so we went in this place called Georges which had tables and a dancefloor. It was great! They played numa numa! (if you've never heard that, you've either been living in a shed for the past 4 years or you're my momma. in any case, here's the famous video from youtube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o because it never gets unfunny) We got in about 1:45ish am.
20 July-
Started the day far too early, with getting up at 6:15am to get ready to go to Strasbourg. We left the dorm right before 7 and our train left at 7:24am. We got to the train station at like, 7:15. Needless to say, we had to run. We made it with like 5 minutes or so to spare, but still. Did not want to get there only to have the doors close in front of us, that'd be bad. I so slept the entire two hours there. It was really cool once we got there though.
Highlights:
the cathedral is HUGE and SCARY and is WAYYYYYY bigger than Notre Dame in paris. The inside's pretty, but they were in the middle of mass when we got there so I felt a bit intrusive. This is the church where Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on door, which is really cool. There's also an astronomical clock, which has both the days of the week and the time on it. There is supposed to be some sort of show for it at 12:30pm but apparently we missed it because nothing much happened. Strasbourg is also where Gutenberg invented the printing press, and as such there is a Plaza there dedicated to him. We took a river boat ride around the city which was cool. We got to see some stuff we probably wouldn't have made it to on foot, like the Council of Europe. We also went through two locks in the river which was interesting. Learned some nifty history about the city and such, and the guy who took our tickets was cute. We wanted to go see the Alsatian Museum (Alsace is the region in France where Strasbourg is located) but alas, it is apparently closed until fall. Boo. It has stuff from 600BC to 800AD of the Strasbourg/Alsatian region. My favorite part however, was the Archaeological Museum in the Palais Rohan (yes, Rohan like Lord of the Rings). I actually saw a Neanderthal skull in person and it was AMAZING. NO JOKE. I STILL GET REALLY EXCITED WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT AS YOU CAN SEE. Because the Alsatian Museum was closed, we ended up with about 2.5 extra hours we filled by walking along the river and taking a meal break at a café. We left Strasbourg at 6:30pm and arrived back in Paris just before 9. Pictures from Strasbourg are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252143&l=f0434&id=7017887
and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252151&l=caff3&id=7017887 (this one is just the musée archaeologique)
21 July-
I managed not to be TOO sore after the incredibly ridiculously long weekend, although my feet still hurt some. Today, I had class which was fine. I have alot of homework due tomorrow for both classes so I am trying to finish this ASAP. I don't think it will be too hard though, so that's good. There's just alot of it. Anyway, this afternoon, Marie and I went to the Cluny Museum which is the Middle Ages museum in Paris. It was really cool. Their main attraction is the tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn (La Dame et la Licorne). These tapestries were constructed in the 15th century and are a series. There are five which represent the different senses: smell, sight, touch, taste, and hearing. There's also a sixth one which is a mystery. The idea is that it represents a sixth sense, but no one really knows what it means. The tapestry only says, "My Only Desire" (or something to that affect). They are really gorgeous. I have some pictures of them, but unfortunately my camera died right after, so I don't have very many of that particular museum. I also don't really think it was worth 5.50 euros, I would've like to pay about 3 but whatever. It was still pretty cool.
Anyway, so that was my weekend + monday. Will update again next time there's something to talk about, I guess!
Á tout á l'heure!
Kaylin