Back Again!

I am sorry it has been a while since I have blogged, I got a little caught up in life. However, I have a lot to share with all of you. First off a few weeks ago I went to the Musee D'Orsay and the Louvre, two of the most famous museums in Paris. I like the Louvre, but its so big its actually very overwhelming. I saw the infamous Mona Lisa , but in all honesty you can't really appreciate it as a viewer. There is a glass box covering the painting, then a perminent gate around it, then a second temporary gate, and two guards (the french are serious about their art). The closest you could get was about 10 feet away from the actual painting. Of course being short has its advantages. I was able to squeeze through and get to the front of the crowd. I'm sure its not hard to picture me up at the front taking pictures of the Mona Lisa fighting with the 10 year old on my right and the 8 year old on my left for the best shot.

However, I was able to see the Venus de Milo, the Egyptian statue of Ramesses II, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace (which happens to be my favorite). My roommate an I were only able to see one full wing of the Louvre in 2 hours, hopefully that can put the size in perspective for you.

Then I also went to the Musee D'orsay with my french class and then again that week with a friend. I think its my favorite museum in Paris. There were paintings by Descartes, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Seurat, Manet, and Gauguin. The museum consisted of all of the paintings I have seen growing up, or in art classes. It was overwhelming but only because the art was so impressive. I wish I could have taken pictures to show everyone, but it was not allowed. I actually got yelled at by the staff for taking a picture of the information card next to a painting by Renoir. If you really know me, you wouldn't be surprised by this at all.

Then later on I also went to a Mask party that was organized by my school, which was really fun, but pretty difficult to find people. Then I also went to a French dinner that was organized by my french teacher. She had the American students meet with the French students. It was really funny actually, I met these two french girls and they kept bragging to all of their friends that I spoke french really well. Well, I don't know about really well, but compared to the rest of the group that consisted of French beginners, I guess I looked like an expert. They also wanted to continue our conversation outside and asked if I smoked but when I said I didn't they were pretty bummed. They didn't understand why none of the Americans smoke, but in France Smoking really is a social experience.

I also spent the day with a friend walking around St. Paul, which is a really cool shopping area. We went into about 5 vintage stores and saw everything from vintage Chanel bags to Hermes scarves. I was afraid to touch anything considering the bags were around 500 Euro, but it was still a really cool area.

Then over the weekend I went to a huge dinner party in the suburbs with a bunch of friends from school where we ate Raclette. Basically you heat up cheese until its melted and you can cook different cold cuts on the hot plate and you put it all over a cooked potato. I know it sounds weird, but it was SO DELICIOUS. Then our dinner party turned into a dance party, and by the end of the night I was dancing Salsa. Then it ended up being about 15 of us staying over and waking up at 6am to take the train back to our apartments. Definitely an eventful week!