Frankreich

The week kicked off with a normal day of school, a homework due, and the medical device design final. The final was very straightforward, and I pulled out a B on it, which is alright considering this semester. Normally I'd be displeased but at this point I'll take what I can get. We left for France way too early the next morning, and embarked on our excursion for the next 5 days. I slept the entire way, not only to Colmar, but to Beaune and Paris as well. But our first stop was Colmar, so several quick hours and slumped-Marcus pics later, we arrived in the beautiful capital of Alsatian wine. I didn't actually have time to try any wine, or do much else, but the city itself was very nice and quaint, and the weather was perfect. After lunch, we visited the Unterlinden museum, and saw the Isenheim altarpiece. I'm a sucker for old/significant art, so it was pretty cool to see it and recognize the medical aspects we've learned about. After the museum, it was back to the bus and back to sleep as we drove to Beaune. We arrived at night, so I enjoyed some good escargot and burgundy wine for dinner. The next day was essentially another travel day, but before we left Beaune we checked out the Hotel Dieu, another interesting facet of medical history in Europe. Also in Hotel Dieu was another famous altarpiece, depicting the last judgement. Hotel Dieu was very interesting in concept, serving as a hospital for the poor. Afterwards was a long bus ride to Paris, where we would spend Thursday-Monday.

Once we checked into the hotel in Paris, we met our tour guide Julien, and took the subway to Notre Dame. At the end of this trip, I was very well versed in Parisian subway travel. Lots of loopholes to buying tickets, but overall pretty efficient. But, it was very cool to see the Notre Dame in person and listen to the acoustics on the inside, because my mom was baptized there. I made sure to send plenty of pictures to her. That night we went to a creperie, and had some very savory crepes as our first meal in Paris. The next day might have been my favorite of the trip, and started with a train ride to Versailles. The palace was very beautiful, and reminded me of the Vatican museum a little bit with the ceiling-wide paintings, but the hall of mirrors was the best part I think. Later, we had a French picnic in the gardens. Julien treated us with our own fresh baguettes, French cheeses and meats, French champagne wine, and French dessert. It was a beautiful day, and I think I even got a sunburn which has been a pretty foreign concept since I got to Europe. Besides just eating, we did Tai Chi, handstands, and had our pullout day, which was surreal to do in the gardens of Versailles. That was just the start of  the day too, and we got to see and climb the Arc de Triomphe, as well as go inside the Sacre Coeur. That night we had a delicious French dinner, and ended the night by going up the Eiffel Tower. The last day of the official excursion was a big tour day, and Julien led us around the Latin Quarter as well as the Louvre. I spent most of the Louvre trying not to die of thirst, so that wasn't the most enjoyable, but the museum was spectacular anyway. Afterwards we had some free time, and a couple of us went to a patisserie, and had the best macaroons ever. I can still taste them a little bit as I'm writing this, and I miss them dearly. That night, we found a random restaurant in the Latin Quarter, and had the best waitress ever, who made the experience so much better.

Sunday and Monday were a quest to see the other major sights in Paris, so on Saturday we saw the Saint-Chapelle and its amazing stained glass, the Shakespeare and Company bookstore and Aggie the cat, had lunch in the Tuileries, and then went to the Orsay. The Louvre was very cool, but I think the Orsay was much better. I saw as many paintings as I could, and found a new favorite: La Biche Boit. I don't have a good justification for it being my favorite, but I spent a good deal of time looking at it. After the museum, we met up with some others, and made our way to the original Berthillon ice cream shop. It lived up to the hype, and it was some of the best ice cream I've had in Europe. We were all pretty dead that night, so we stayed at our hostel for dinner. It was a pretty American meal, but it was still good and we had a discount. I pretty much soloed Monday, which was both parts awesome and a mistake. On the plus side, I got to enjoy things myself without the pressure of being on the same time schedule as someone else. I climbed to the top of the Sacre Coeur, which was beautiful even though it was a hazy day. I visited the l'Orangerie, and even though I'm not a big Monet fan, I could sit there and look at his murals for hours. Lastly, I made the quickest museum run through of my life, flying through the Louvre to see Venus, and grab a keychain for a friend. The cons of  traveling alone were that I went to the complete wrong bus station to go home, and missed my bus by a mile. At that point I had already grabbed all my stuff from the hostel, so I counted my losses and booked a train home that would leave two hours later. I did make that one on time, and I made my way back to Bonn. 

Even though I spent way too much money trying to get home, Paris was everything I imagined and much more. I could have easily spent another week there visiting different museums and gardens, but what I did get to see was perfect. I was supposed to have math homework due that week, but I completely ignored it and I feel no shame. Paris and France were a dream, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.