summing up

Versailles, Norte Dame, Louvre, Pantheon, Latin Quarter, Coffee, Bread, Bread with Cheese, Cameras and the Metro.

I guess if I were to sum up my past three days in 15 words or less, that would be it.

Considering this is an academic course, I can do more than that. So maybe I will format this post for all my friends and family and scholarly readers in a organized manner.  I’ll start with the first thing that I encountered in the city of love.

The Metro!

I am so surprised at how simple it is to use the Metro. Right after I got off the plane, it was right there and took me almost right to the hostel. And for the past few days this is how we have been getting around. It is a really easy a convenient system, it really makes me think about how behind on the times of subway design we are in the states.

Coffee

Having traveled to Europe before, I was expecting great things from Paris in terms of their caffeine. As far as I am concerned all my expectations have been far exceeded. After walking around all day, the best most delicious thing in the world is an espresso shot.

Bread & Bread with Cheese

Typical mornings breakfast at the hostel, but still, always amazing. All the food here has been outstanding so far. Being the Wisconsin carb and cheese loving girl that I am, I am pretty much in heaven. I love trying new food and learning about cultural dishes and Paris is a pretty great place to do so.

Norte Dame

I feel like its just as amazing as everyone has said it is. Although there is a certain feeling that overcomes one when they are sitting in front of something built hundreds and hundreds of years of ago. To me there is an awakening of self worth, and there is this moment when all of sudden you realize how small you are in comparison to the rest of the world. But to be honest, perhaps the majority of Paris makes me feel that way.

Versailles

Possibly one of the most decadent and elaborate structures I have ever seen. If you sit here and think about all the words you could ever use to describe something big, none of the words in the world would be able to accurately fit Versailles. The Gardens were so unbelievably beautiful, although the inside building was not the best experience I had ever had in my lifetime. The people there were swarming, it was like a giant herd of people, and if you didn’t move with them they pushed you to the side.

Louvre

Oh My! I want to say there are no words for how the Louvre made me feel but I am sure I can think of a few. We had been there literally the whole day and to think that I only saw not even 1/8 of the artwork there. It gives me chills down my back. The enormity of the Louvre and almost everything in it; is outstanding.  We all sat together as a class and looked at Gericault’s the Raft of the Medusa. Before that, I don’t think I had ever spent more than an hour looking at one painting. And I had never spent so long in such a crowded place, looking at a painting so large. After a while within that painting, I started to really become attune to my surroundings. I started noticing everyone looking at this piece. For the next 45 minutes, I took pictures of people taking pictures, and looked at people looking. After that we were released to look on our own and find two works to compare. I spent 3 and a half hours looking at one piece, without even realizing it.

Pantheon & Latin Quarter

I fell in love with the Latin Quarter, as my dear father told me I would. The Latin Quarter is all the schools are, it is amazing to see all the students! And everyone was so beautiful! I can’t believe the Pantheon as well. It’s almost funny how it works out, the Romans had created a Pantheon hundreds of years before with better construction and almost better technology. I saw its funny because the Pantheon in the Latin Quarter has to be completely redone.

Summing up my experience in a small blog post in nearly impossible. But either I can rightfully say that Paris is the most amazing city I have ever encountered in my lifetime so time. 

>AM