The Paris excursion
started off kind of slow, but it ended up being one of the more fun trips I
made throughout the semester. But first: Beaune. Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune was a
strange, yet fascinating mix of medicine and Catholicism. I have so much
respect for the nuns who at one time risked their own health, and really their
own lives, to care for the infirm there. My favorite room by far was the
pharmacy (or as I insist on calling it, the apothecary), which looked like
something out of a movie set.
When we got to
Paris, the first thing we did was eat. Food is often the way to a person's
heart, and I was no exception. A couple galettes later and I was in love with
Paris. And macarons! I'd seen them before but never had one. I just always
assumed they weren't gluten-free. Of course, I was so happy to find out they
were!
The next day, we
were scheduled to go on the city bike tour. To say I was nervous about riding a
bike is putting it lightly. Before then, I hadn't ridden a bike in probably 13
years or so. So yeah, I wasn't exactly looking forward to suddenly riding one for
2+ hours around a busy city, filled with drivers and pedestrians and other
bicyclists all trying to get to wherever they were going. Nevertheless, the
time had come and I was at the bike rental shop, waiting in line to receive my
death trap. The Parisian was readying my bike when I noticed the label on the
handlebars: "Mother of Dragons". My heart skipped a beat. It was a
reference to one of my favorite characters in my favorite show, Game of
Thrones!
I turned to the
Parisian and asked, "What is that sticker there for?"
"That's the
name of your bike," he smiled. Then I smiled. The anxiety of riding a bike
through a bustling city was suddenly far from my mind. Much of the next two
hours on that bike was spent wobblingly trying to avoid falling and/or hitting
people, but it made no difference to me--I was busy channeling Daenerys
Stormborn of House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi
of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons.
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