After getting back from Mallorca Sunday night, we had an early morning the next day to start our French adventure to Colmar, Beaune, and Paris! Because Colmar and Beaune are such small cities, we took a bus from Bonn through a little tour of France.
Our first stop was Colmar, a cute little town with delicious macaroons and pieces of the Isenheim Altar. We didn't stay long, but we were able to see the famous works of art and take a tour of the city. It was a neat experience to get to see the altar because of what it represents. For years and years victims of the plague and other illnesses would voyage from far and wide just to be able to come to the altar for hopes of a religious remedy. Really cool stuff. I really wish we had more time to explore Colmar. The town was so cute, very similar to Bruges.
Our short trip in Colmar came to an end when we all boarded the dreaded bus again to make our way to Beaune. Most of us spent time sleeping on the bus, but occasionally we came up with our own road trip games. When we finally made it to Beaune we had a marvelous dinner that was traditional for the region, which of course, included Burgundy. The reason Dr. Wasser wanted us to come to Beaune wasn't for the wine, but rather an old hospital, the Hotel Dieu. This charming old woman gave us a tour of the Hotel which was a rather cool concept. Basically it was built as a place for the sick poor who needed help and somewhere to go. Even though there wasn't really much they could do for the patients in terms of treatment back in the day, the facility was absolutely beautiful. The Hotel was actually functioning up into the late 1900s, obviously with some advancements and had its own pharmacy.
We finally boarded the bus again to head off to our final destination: PARIS! Needless to say after two days on a bus, we were very happy to finally make it to Paris. We were welcomed to Paris with none other than crepes....on crepes...on crepes, on crepes. The next day our French tour guide led us on bikes throughout the city. The bike tour was definitely one of my favorite things that I have done this semester. We got to see so much of the city and we had so much fun doing it.
The next day we got to experience the beauty of Versailles. Every room had so much art and ornamentation, I could definitely see myself living there one day....okay, maybe not, but a girl can dream. Our afternoon was filled with a nice little picnic in the gardens, with lots of French food and wines. I think the gardens were definitely my favorite part. There were animals and so many fountains and paths. It was quite the setting for a romantic stroll. One of my favorite things, even though it was under construction was Marie Antoinette's Chateau. It was so cute and placed perfectly in the garden as an escape.
Our last day in Paris was at the Louvere, my new favorite museum. Aside from housing the Mona Lisa and other extremely famous works of art, the place itself is almost more beautiful than the things inside. It's very hard not to be overwhelmed by everything, and you could spend days looking at all the pieces. I really enjoyed Paris, but was a little sad we didn't get more free time to explore the city on our own. We did get to stop and Shakespeare and Company, a famous bookstore, and visit the Notre Dame and Sacre Coure, both of which were beautiful. Paris was fun, but another trip to Barcelona awaits!
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