Another week of excursions means the academics and personal experience merge so I will only write one big paragraph for both.
Wednesday at 7am, we departed to go to the great country of France, our first stop being Colmar. We got there around 1pm and as we got off the bus, it was already a beautiful city and at least 10 degrees warmer than Bonn. We got lunch then went to the Unterlinden Museum. The whole reason for this visit was to see the Isenheim Altar which is not only an incredible and complex piece of art, but it also has a lot of medicinal importance. After the museum we went straight to our next city: Beaune.
We got there pretty late so we were let go to have our independent dinner, where some friends and I went to a French restaurant and I was able to try escargot (less disgusting that I was expecting) and some delicious wine. The next day we went to the Hotel Dieu and then left for our final stop: Paris!
First night in Paris we had a group dinner at a creperie where I had my first savory crepe and let me tell you, it was amazing. The next we got up very early to go to Versailles. The weather could not have been more perfect that day. It was sunny, warm and not very windy, which made the beauty of Versailles even more amazing. We had a picnic in the garden where we just laid down, ate baguettes, drank wine, and relaxed for over an hour. We then went back to Paris for some free time where I saw the arch of triumph. That night we had another group dinner at a fancy restaurant by the Eiffel Tower, and then we walked to the tower and saw its splendor at night. I was not able to go to the top because we got there too late, but it was still an awesome sight. From beginning to end, that day was by far the best day in my entire study abroad experience and maybe my life.
The last day of the planned excursion, we got up early again to have some breakfast, tour the city and make our way to the Louvre. The Louvre as massive as everyone has said, and even though were were in there for FOUR hours walking around non stop at a pretty fast pace, I felt like I did not even see a third of it. I know we were there mostly to learn about the history of medicine through the arts, I was stoked to finally see the Mona Lisa it all her glory. A lot of people have said they were disappointed when they saw the painting because it is always crowded and it is way smaller than what everyone expects, but I really liked it and it was not as small as I expected. I also learned that the Mona Lisa may have had a thyroid problem which is pretty interesting. The Louvre was the end of our excursion with the school, and it was really an amazing opportunity to get to see all these beautiful places and find a relevance in each place to what we are studying. That night I went to the Latin Quarter for some dinner then went back to the hotel.
My last day in Paris, I went to the l'orangerie museum, Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Napoleons Tomb and ended the day watching the sunset in a bridge near the Notre Dame, then headed to the bus station to go back to cold Bonn.
I knew I was going to love France, but I did not expect how much I was going to. I think the biggest difference was that in every other city that I have visited so far, I have stayed there for two or three days, whereas in Paris, I was there for five whole days. This really changed my perspective on my future travel plans and how you cant really experience a city until you live there.
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