This week’s events could not have
been a better way to conclude our study abroad here in France.
Museums, gardens, and national monuments were the primary focus of
this week. All of our visits could not have been possible though
without the Paris museum pass.
On Monday we went to see the Louvre
which is famous for Greek sculpture, Italian paintings, and other
relics from early civilizations. The Louvre also has the most
well-known painting the Mona Lisa. From what everyone else told me I
thought the painting would be really small but after seeing it I
consider it normal size. We also saw the sculpture of Venus de Milo
which was my favorite piece of what we saw that day. Afterward we
made use of our museum pass again and went to the top of Notre Dame.
We could see all the major landmarks of Paris from up there.
On Tuesday we took a train to
Monet’s garden in Giverney, and our tour guide gave us a very nice
explanation about the structure of both gardens. My favorite of the
two gardens was the water garden which had Monet’s famous bridge
that is seen in some of his paintings. In the afternoon we had a
picnic in the nearby town.
Wednesday we went to some botanical
gardens and we got to see five different gardens that represented
every period of plant evolution. My favorite of the five gardens had
plants from every mountain range on six continents to represent the
global differences. Then we had lunch at a mosque and I ate pork
cooked with almonds and prunes. Then we went to another museum after
lunch where I found my favorite painting in Paris. The painting was
of two chickens engaged in a fierce battle of dominance with two
people watching close by. One day I will hang this picture in my
house.
Thursday was my second favorite day
of the entire trip, visiting the Versailles castle and gardens. Our
tour of the castle was too short I thought because Versailles has
over 6000 rooms and we only saw about twenty five of them. After a
small lunch we went to meet the gardeners that take care of
Versailles’s 34000 hectares of gardens. We were very lucky to get
to see some of the gardens because they are only open to the public
in late summer. These gardens had very different tones based on who
build each one. We didn’t get a chance to go see Marie Antoinette's
gardens but hopefully I will come back to see them. After the tour we
got to go back to the main gardeners building and we got to drink
champagne with him. He told us that previously no Americans that went
to see the gardens really enjoyed them. He was a very fun spirited
man that didn’t speak much English but could convey his meanings
with hand gestures.
On the last day of the trip we were
allowed to go anywhere we wanted in Paris. After waiting in line for
the Eiffel Tower for two hours and getting nowhere we decided to go
to lunch at a nice restaurant. Then we decided to make one last use
of our pass so we went to the Arc de Triumph just down the road. This
was very cool to see in person because of its significant role in
WWII and the French Revolution. In the evening we had dinner together
with our professor at a very nice restaurant that had live band and
nice dancers.
Saturday I took a train to the
airport. Since Wednesday the train unions had been on strike so after
a certain point I had to take a taxi because there were no more
trains running to the airport. Once I got on the plane and watched
France disappear below the clouds I used the rest of my flight to
reflect on the events of this past month. I met so many new people
and formed several lasting friendships here that leaving is most
assuredly bittersweet. This will certainly be a trip I will never
forget, and hopefully one day I will return. Au revoir for now!
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