The End of an Adventure

Wow. The past four weeks have been life changing. I have seen some of the most beautiful places in the world and made some of the most amazing friends I could ever ask for. This last week in Paris has just been the cherry on top of an unforgettable adventure.



We did everything I wanted to do while we were in Paris (except go to the Eiffel Tower, but I have to have some reason to come back, right?), but the best part was Versailles. It was absolutely one of my most favorite days of the whole trip. We took a tour of the chateau in the morning and in the afternoon, we got a private tour of the garden from one of the assistant directors of the garden. We got to see parts of the garden that were locked to regular tourists and hear about the way gardeners manipulate perception to make everything look perfect, although it's actually not. It was so interesting, and incredibly beautiful.



After our private tour, we went back to the gardener's office and hung out with the head gardner of Versailles. He spoke no English, but the language barrier was not a barrier at all. It made things light and fun and his animated personality made it simple to understand his good humor. I don't know if I have ever laughed so hard in my life, or met someone so hospitable. He even invited us to the Marie Antoinette Masquerade Ball that they are having on June 28. Looks like I will be heading back to Paris sooner than I thought...



 I learned a valuable lesson that day while I looked out at the canal, which looks like it is the exact same thickness all the way to the end, but in reality it gets progressively wider because if it did not, it would look much smaller at the far end than the near end. Not everything in life is at seems, and physical perception can easily fool the mind of a simple man. I am so blessed to have had this opportunity to learn so many new things. I now feel a new kind of intelligence and desire to learn growing inside me. This desire is to learn about all things, not just those that I would normally be drawn to. I am excited to start the next chapter of my life, sad to close this one, and delighted to have introduced such beautiful new characters into this story that we call life!