Days 14-18

So much to catch up on! I didn’t have my computer while I was in Paris, so we will see what I can remember of all the things we did!

Day 14:

Our last day in London before Paris was so much fun! We went to the British Library which I honestly didn’t have very high expectations for, and it was amazing! I saw so many amazing things. I read Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte’s handwriting. I saw Jane Austin’s writing desk, Oscar Wilde’s diary, Shakespeare’s first folio, the Beatle’s manuscripts for Help and Yesterday, William Tyndale’s New Testament, the Magna Carta, and manuscripts for a Beethoven Violin Sonata, Ravel’s Bolero, Handel’s Messiah, a Haydn Sonata, and some Schubert Lieder. And that was only a few of the things I saw! I loved it! It was neat to be able to see the composer’s handwriting or read Oscar Wilde’s thoughts or read out of the first folio! It was so neat! Later that night every single person went to Phantom of the Opera except for me. I was the only one who didn’t buy a ticket, but it was so nice to have the center to myself!

Day 15:

Best day of London Study Abroad=First Day in Paris

The first day in Paris was magical! We took the Eurostar over at 6:15 in the morning and I slept the whole way there! We saw the Louvre for just a few minutes and then were rushed away to the Arc d’Triomphe. We walked down the Champs Elysees which had amazing store after store. We stopped at a little bakery and got paninis. The waiter would tease us about being American and talk to us a lot. I think all of the waiters and waitresses liked to tease us because we were American, sometimes they’d lean around the corner and stick their tongue out at us on the way to another table or they wouldn’t hand us our menus or they’d make jokes with us. They were so funny!

The best part of the day was seeing the Eiffel Tower! I don’t know why I didn’t have great expectations for it (probably because it is talked about so much), but it was the most amazing sight! We took at least 50 pictures in front of it. We climbed it all the way to the top and the view was spectacular! It is such a beautiful structure.

Later we got crepes, something we made sure we did every day we were there. Our group met for a riverboat cruise down the Seine. I think it was my very favorite part of the whole trip to Paris. We saw Notre Dame and museum after museum. I didn’t know the names of most of the buildings I saw, but they were incredible. One drawback to the Paris trip was that I didn’t know a lot of the history because we haven’t been studying it like we have London. I had to write down a lot of things to look up when I got back to the center. People on other boats and sitting on the side of the Seine waved to us and blew us kisses. My friend Lauren’s reaction to the cruise, “this is the most romantic thing I have ever done and I am all by myself!”

Towards the end of the cruise we ended back at the Eiffel Tower and it started sparkling! I didn’t even know it sparkled!

Day 16:

We tried to fit in everything we possibly could our next day in Paris. We were running around Paris for 14 hours straight. My feet have never hurt that bad. We wanted to make sure we hit all of the things that we could, and so that’s what we did! We woke up bright and early and went to Notre Dame. It was a beautiful building on the outside, but I wasn’t as impressed when I walked inside. I thought Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral had more impressive decorations, stained glass windows, and more light was let in. Then we went to the Concierge where Marie Antoinette was held prisoner. We also went to Saint-Chapelle which is a chapel that is basically all stained glass. It was so beautiful. It was the most amazing stained glass I have seen. Better yet, I got to take pictures while I was there!

Next we went to Versailles. Our directors told us it was kind of a let down, but I thought it was incredible! The palace was so ornate. They had a hall that was all mirrors and chandeliers. The ceilings were all painted, and the rococo style made the rooms even more impressive. We walked around the grounds even longer than we did the palace. We walked through a maze, laid on the grass while eating ice cream, and went for a boat ride on the lake. We also Marie Antoinette’s home. The weather was amazing! It was 80 degrees and sunny! I hadn’t experienced that in a while… That night we went to the Musee d’Orsay an impressionist art museum. I think we were a little tired to appreciate it as much as we could. I loved the sculptures more than most of the art. The Roudin was my favorite. We got out of the Orsay at 9:45, and then ran as fast as we could so we could see the Eiffel Tower sparkle one last time.

Day 17:

By Friday, we were so burnt out from Thursday it was hard to do hardly anything. We went to a bakery first, and got some sandwiches that are ham and cheese, but all the cheese is on the outside and they broil it. It was the best cheese I have ever had, and I think one of my favorite things that I got in Paris. Then, we went to the Louvre, but didn’t appreciate very much because we were so worn out! I would love to go again and just spend a whole day there because it was so huge! There were some really incredible paintings. I wasn’t too impressed with the Mona Lisa; it was tiny! But there were so many other things that were just incredible!

Next we went to the Orangerie which has Monet’s water lilies. It was way better than I expected. They wee larger paintings that stretched along each wall in one nearly oval shaped room. The walls were white so they wouldn’t detract from the paintings. It was so beautiful. It was almost relaxing to look at those paintings, and I loved how they were set up.

With our last couple hours in London we ran to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, so that we could at least see a few famous people. The biggest ones we wanted to see were Chopin, Rossini, and Oscar Wilde. We didn’t have much time to look for anyone else. There were security guards driving around in vans telling us it was closing soon and that we should get out of there. We had already seen Rossini and Wilde, but I really wanted to see Chopin so we literally ran all around the cemetery looking for him! Another van came up to us telling it was closing and we pretended like we were walking towards the exit, but we were really just looking in more and more lots in the cemetery. Finally we found him! We snapped a few pictures and then ran out of there just as it was closing.

By this last day I was pretty satisfied with all I had done in Paris, but I was really excited to go back to London. I really like being in London! I like that I speak the language, I think it is cleaner, and I like the tube way better than Paris’ metro. I like both places a lot, but I really just enjoy London, and I think I am getting the hang of where things are and what I like here.

Day 18:

Yesterday was my day to recharge. I spent the whole day doing homework, grocery shopping, and eating. The only thing I did was go to the BYU Singer’s concert in St. John’s last night. Yesterday, I bought a lot of fruit and it is so expensive here! I paid five dollars for four apples! It was crazy! We passed a little stand that had all kinds of different breads, olives, and desserts. I bought some Turkish delight, and fizzy licorice with crème in the middle, and a huge loaf of focaccia bread. I love going around and discovering little stands or going to markets and finding new foods. It has been really fun! Next week is mostly classes and homework it looks like. I am going to try and go see 39 steps and maybe Singin’ in the Rain next week. Should be fun!