Francy excursion to Coalmar, Bone, and Pearis

(Colmar, Beaune, and Paris) FRANCE
Monday March 5th - Friday March 9th

On the bus ride to France, I slept mostly and talked some with others about their weekends and plans for spring break. It was hilarious looking around and seeing everyone passed out sleeping. We arrived at Colmar and had a few minutes to walk around and get lunch. We had a tour of museum Unterlinden, which contains the Eisenheim Alter that’s in the movie Monuments Men. The alter and other works in the museum were beautiful and so detailed. Afterwards, Katie and I walked around Colmar together for a bit, before we got back on the bus to head to Beaune. Once we dropped our bags off at the hotel, our program ate dinner at a traditional French restaurant. I had boeuf bourguignon, and chocolate mousse (yum). 
The next morning, we had a traditional French breakfast at the hotel, and headed to the Hotel Dieu or Hospices de Beaune, which was founded as hospital for the poor in 1443. The roof tiles on the building were colorful and created a neat zig zag pattern. We got to see the bed rooms where patients of different classes stayed, the kitchen, and the laboratory/pharmacy room. The names of powders and treatments were quite interesting. For instance, one treatment was labeled cockroach powder, another container said dragon powder. After the tour, Katie, Mitchel, Corey, and I walked around Beaune looking for food. I got separated from them when I went to look for a bag to replace the trash bag I had been using as a carry on. Luckily, I ran into Maddie and Lauren. We walked back to the bus together and were off to Paris!

We arrived in Paris that Tuesday evening. We dropped our things off at the hotel, and our french guide for the week, Julian, took our program to a crêperie for dinner. The food was magnificent, as was the apple cider served with it. I had a ham, cheese, and egg crêpe followed by a caramel crêpe for dessert. Wednesday morning, we had a tour of Paris, led by Julian. Starting at a lookout for the Tour Eiffel, we walked by the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysées, the Seine, the Petit Palais (Paris Fine Arts Museum), the Grand Palais, Pont Alexandre III, Academie Nationale de Music and Notre Dam. We made a quick break during the tour for lunch. Madeline, Lauren, and I found a great crêpe stand, and sat down for a quick cup of coffee after eating. 

Also, we each bought a baguette to dip in these cute jars of jam we took from the hotel breakfast that morning haha. We made a stop at the History of Medicine museum to  break up the tour. It was a room filled with one of the oldest collections of old surgical tools and devices in Europe. Notre Dam is lovely, especially all the stained-glass windows. I like Gothic architecture. After walking through the cathedral, we had some free time to walk around. I went shopping with a few others, and managed to find a decent sized duffel to replace my trash bag luggage. We didn't have time to go back to the hotel to drop off our things, so everyone put their purchases into my duffel bag.We met back with our program at the Eiffel Tower. Everyone kept asking me why I had a bag with me, granted the black duffel looked super suspicious, but the question got a little annoying after the third time haha. The tower had a spectacular view of the city. Paris at night is just as beautiful, if not more, as it is during the day. That night, Lauren, Madeline, Katie and I picked up pizza to bring back to the hotel for dinner. We had a really fun evening hanging out.

The next morning, Julian took our program to the Louvre. I had been to Paris a few times before, but I had never gone inside the famous museum. It was incredible. The museum is massive, and would take well over a day to see and enjoy all of it. We began our tour with sculptures and saw the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.  The Winged Victory of Samothrace is by far my favorite statue. It defies gravity, with massive wings set on the woman standing on a huge marble ship. Part of the Louvre is built atop the ruins of a fortress dating back to the 12th century. We walked along some of the fortress walls and the moat. Next, we visited the paintings. Julian explained and analyzed several of Leonardo da Vinci's works. It was really interesting to see the hidden details and meaning behind his paintings. 

For me, The Wedding at Cana was the most impressive painting there. It spanned the entire wall, and about 12 artists worked to complete it. We also saw the Mona Lisa of course. It was neat to see such a famous painting in person. Madeline, Lauren and I stopped to have pasta at a restaurant near the museum. That afternoon, we wandered around Paris a bit, ending up at the Jardin Tuileries. However, it started raining pretty hard, so we decided to go back to the hotel. Once we had warmed up, we ventured out to Moulin Rouge. Paris has many sides; it was neat to see how different its districts are from one another. We stopped for crêpes at a small stand, then took the subway to Champs Elysee. We walked around the street for a bit while munching on macaroons from a shop we found. Lastly, we stopped by the Grande Arche, which looks like a modern version of the Arc de Triumph. The Grande Arche is cool, but I prefer the original one. Madeline, Lauren and I headed back to the hotel, looking forward to sleep after a long day. 

Our final day in Paris started with breakfast and moving our luggage into a storage room. By 8:30, we were on a train to Le Château de Versaillles. The palace and gardens are magnificent. Though certainly not my taste, the rooms within Versailles are lavish and extravagantly decorated. La Galerie des Glaces was the most impressive, especially because at the time the hall was built, mirrors were extremely expensive and manufacturing was monopolized by the Venetians. After touring the palace, we had a very traditional french lunch in a picnic area beside the Château. Julian had picked out a wide assortment of meats, jams, and cheeses to pair with a baguette. The food was delicious. I am definitely going to miss fresh bread and cheese when I return to the States. To no surprise, I bought more macaroons at a shop in the palace. After lunch, we had a few minutes to walk around the gardens. There was not nearly enough time to explore over 3 square miles of land. To me, the gardens are the best part of Versailles. We caught our train back into the city, and convened back at the hotel where everyone parted ways for spring break.