Day 59

The beginning of the week started out with us leaving early Monday morning to Colmar. My host father offered to give Austen and I a ride to the Hofgarten, and I was almost certain we would be late. To my suprise, we managed to make a ten minute drive in nearly five, and were there right on time. After a long bus ride and a rainbow sighting, we arrived to the town that also happens to be the birthplace Auguste Bartholdi, the man who created the Statue of Liberty. Once we got of the bus, we had free time and ended up eating lunch with Dr. Wasser and Nick. After, we stravaged around the town, which looked like something out of a Disney movie with all of its bright, vibrant colors and ate gelato. Once lunch was concluded, we went and saw the Isenheim Altarpiece and listened to a lecture per Dr. Wasser about its significance, history, and symbolism.

When our tour was concluded, we all got back on the bus and drove to Beaune. Lois, Deanna, and I managed to get a room that was more like a tiny house and secluded from the rest of the group. Dinner occurred at a fancy restaurant where we were served multiple courses of snail, steak, and chocolate mousse, all of which were excellent. Frenchie from the Real Housewives of New York made an appearance and taught us all a weird hand twisty lala dance thing that was very odd, but fun. The Isenheim Altar was saved during WWII by the Monuments Men, who recently had a movie made about them. Dr. Wasser informed of us this, so some of us decided to have a movie night and watch it. 10/10 would watch again. When morning broke and the sun rose, we went to Hotel Dieu and learned about the people who lived in it. We saw another altarpiece that was just as stunning as the last one. Our tour guide was a kind, elderly woman who gave us a very detailed history about everything we saw, all the while making subtle jokes and making us all laugh. After the tour concluded, we were off to Paris. 

Once arriving in Paris, we had dinner at a delicious creperie. I had a ham and cheese crepe, a caramel crepe, cider, and homemade apple juice. When all of the food was consumed, the group and I went back to our hotel, grabbed some jackets, and explored. Lois, Deanna, Camella, Mitchell, Corey, and myself took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and arrived just in time to see it light up and sparkle. We decided to walk along the Seine and towards the Grand Palais and Les Invalides. There were a decent number of rats that were running across the road and in the shadows, and that was a little disturbing. Salesmen would relentlessly try to get us to by souvenirs, alcohol, and other questionable things. This led us to pretending that we didn't speak English, which deterred them from pursuing us. We made it back to the hotel safely and after numerous FaceTime calls, went to bed. 

The next morning, Julien greeted us bright and early and led us on a walking/running tour around Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Luxor Obelisk, and Notre Dame, in addition to many other things. I had my first macaron from Pierre Herme, and I liked it so much that we went back for more the next day. For lunch we had free time, and I had the misfortune of eating sketchy Greek food in the rain. Since we had some time left before the rendezvous time, Camella, Deanna, Lois, and I found a small park that had the oldest tree in Paris, an aggressive pigeon, and a stunning view of Notre Dame. Once we met with the rest of the group, we went to a history of medicine museum and received an extremely detailed description of nearly everything in it. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and was happy to answer the numerous questions that were asked of her. That evening we went to a bar and tried different French wines and watched Camella eat ice cream.
The next day, we headed to the Louvre and received a three hour tour of the Sully wing. The Sphinx was pensive, the Greek statues looked like they could walk off their pedestals, and Mona Lisa's eyes appeared to follow us around the room. Once the tour was over, we went and had lunch and then took some fun pictures in front of the Pyramide du Louvre. Dr. Wasser and Julien granted us the rest of the day off, so we headed to Montmartre and saw the small shops and Sacre-Couer. The view from atop the hill was beautiful, even though the sky was cloudy and rain was pouring. We successfully found street art, gifts for people back home, and more macarons. Other than the rough weather, it was a lot of fun and I would definitely go back to that tiny village if I could. Math homework was due that night, so many of us suffered and stayed up to do the assignment. So fun.

In the morning, we had to pack all of our stuff up and eat an early breakfast. We headed to Versailles, where we got to walk around the palace and gardens until lunch. Dr. Wasser, Alexa, Nick, and Julien prepared a delicious picnic-style lunch for us that was comprised of meats, cheeses, breads, wines, and mousse. Groups of little kids arrived when we were halfway through our meal, and they were very loud and very adorable. Once lunch was over, I was given nearly two loaves of bread to take for the next week and we all bid Julien farewell. His parting words to us were unexpected and strange, "NEVER sleep in airports and life is butter."