at an exhibit on the "bon gout" de Andrée Putman...i think that's her name at aleast
the last day of french class!! alleluia!
in front of the gates to versaille
the hall of mirrors!
attempting to do the brady bunch in the gardens at versailleokkkkk so its been awhile since my last post - what have i done?
Orientation is finally over! it is such a relief to not have to wake up at 7 for our 3 hour french classes every morning and then our 4 hour "fun walking tours" around the city. i can finally officially say i have a routine with life here. our final part of orientation was a trip to Louis 14th chateau, versailles. It was unbelievable! The amount of gold in that place is insane, everything from the glowing gate outside to the trimmings on the wall, the balconies, the tapestries, his bed, and pretty much anywhere on the walls. Fortunately for my program, we have two teachers who are professionally designated as Versaille and Versaille garden experts so I learned every little detail about the chateau that I wouldn't have if I went alone. The first day we went on the tour with the public through all of the "grand apartments" to the hall of mirrors and finally louis's bedroom. he literally has gold woven into his sheets! its a little outrageous if you ask me but then again...i wouldn't mind curling up under those covers! then we had dinner and i attempted to translate the French news on Egypt to my friends until we all passed out from museum exhaustion. Little did we know what was coming for us the next day. We were surprised to find that although the itinerary said we were starting at 1:15, our first private tour was at 9:25 am. Of course it was with a curator from the museum taking us to the private "petit apartments" so who could really complain? These apartments were also gorgeous and we even got to see some hidden rooms where the servants were kept and the opera which is not open to the public. finally it was lunch time when disaster struck! we were served celery puree with some sort of meet on top and for some reason there was a massive stomach for everyone involved the rest of the day. our teachers magically did not feel the same way and decided it would be a perfect time to tour the gardens for 3 hours and then roam around for the extra two hours before our bus got there to pick us up! It really is a gorgeous garden/s so i can't complain that much and all in all it was a really great trip!
Lucky for me the next day I had a surprise visitor. My dad and grandpa's friend happens to visit Paris often every year and he was in town. I had a delicious lunch with him at the famous Drugstore overlooking the Champs Elysée and the Arc de Triomphe and then we went to the Musée d'Orsay. It was so nice to be with someone from home and hear fun stories about my grandparents and dad and enjoy paris all at the same time. The Musée d'Orsay was really wonderful and I finally saw van gogh's famous self-portrait which was a surprisingly mind blowing experience. Its one of those things that Mrs. Groneck showed you pictures of every year over and over since I was 4 but when i saw the real thing in person i was almost speechless.
the best news so far that i've heard is that mom is coming to visit!!! we are just in the process of planning the trip now but i can't wait to see her and have part of the fam back in my life!!! i am also planning my trip over february break and it looks like I am going to Berlin, Prague and Vienna! I have an exciting few weeks ahead of me !! I will write alll about them soon!!
xox Magpie
No comments:
Post a Comment