This week wasn't one that was full of different trips and massive adjustments like the last, but I did get to do a few fun things. I figured that rather than write seven different, slightly shorter posts, I'd just compile them all into one.
Monday / Tuesday: Monday and Tuesday were just regular class days, though after class on Tuesday I went on an excursion with a few other students to buy our books for our History and Context of Paris course. We have to read a book and give an oral exposition of it before the end of the summer. These two days in general were pretty uneventful, as I spent the evenings, exhausted, in bed and reading for my class and watching Ratatouille. After all, can you really be in Paris if you don't watch Ratatouille at least once?
Wednesday: On Wednesday of this week I had an excursion for my history class to le Marais, one of the neighborhoods in Paris. We visited Saint Paul's cathedral, a stunning building tucked into the bustling neighborhood of the Marais. On Wednesday in class we had been discussing the different architectural styles of the French cathedrals and learned that Saint Paul's is of the classic style. We also visited on of the hotels particulars in paris, which once served as smaller palaces for wealthier families in Paris. The one we visited was L'hotel Sulley, which backs up to le Place de Vosges, which served as a palace fro Henri IV in the 1600s, and later housed many famous frenchmen and women, including Victor Hugo. Finally, we made our way to the Jewish Neighborhood, bustling with expensive designer shops and boutiques. It's practically impossible today to tell that it was once the home of the Parisian Jewish community, but if you look closely, you can see remnants of the strong culture in the area, including a synagogue practically hidden from view between apartments and bistros.
Thursday: Thursday was the last day of class for the week, as our class days are Monday-Thursday, with three day weekends every week. (Perfect for travel! I'll be going to Brussels this weekend.) After classes ended for the day, a group of us went to a little gelato shop, Amorino's, on la rue Daguerre where our course center is located before taking a trip to le cimetière père lachaise to see the final resting places of some of the famous frenchmen and women to ever live. We saw the graves of Chopin, Molière, La Fontaine, and wanted to see those of Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison, but were unable to do so before the cemetery closed for the day. But don't worry, I intend to go back.
This week was a little more relaxed than last week, but I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to just relax a little more after the craziness of last week. But I'm looking so forward to this weekend and our trip to Belgium, and even more amazing memories to come.