Week 8

The week started early Monday morning, when we met at 6:30 am to get on a bus to France. Our first stop was Colmar, where we saw the Isenheim Altar. Then, we went to Beaune for the night. We had beef bourguignon for dinner, and it was really good.

On Tuesday, we went to Hotel Dieu. It was interesting to learn more about the history of medicine. After this, we got back on the bus to go to Paris. It was really exciting because once we entered the city, we could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. That night, we had crepes for dinner. They served both savory crepes and sweet crepes, but my favorite was the sweet crepe.

On Wednesday, we started the day with a bike tour around Paris. I somehow ended up scraping my hand along the way. As it turns out, I was not the only one. There were many of us who did not make it to the end unscathed. We ran over time and missed lunch, but we had time to see the Notre Dame before going to another interesting museum related to the history of medicine. After this, we ate and went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was a nice view, despite the fogginess. That night, we also went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

On Thursday, there was an optional walking tour of Montmartre. Although my feet were hurting from all of the walking we did this week, I didn't want to miss out on anything that Paris had to offer. It was a cool area of Paris, on a hill overlooking the city. We also saw an interesting area where artists were painting and selling their artwork. We then ate lunch before going to the Louvre. Once there, we saw the Mona Lisa, which was the highlight of the museum. It was amazing to see one of Da Vinci's most famous paintings for myself.

On Friday, we went to Versailles. This was our last stop on our Paris excursion. The palace was very beautiful. We ended the trip by having a French picnic, then we went back to our hotel to grab our luggage and head our separate ways. My group went to the Orly airport to fly to Italy to start our spring break.