Cemetery and Musee de Pompidou

Day9:May 26^th

Cemetery and Musee de Pompidou ! 

It was a very late start, 11:45am, compare to any other days. I woke up early anyways as I did not know the time before going to sleep. We grab a little lunch in Bastille. I did not know that French MacDonald’s have Macaroons. I found that quite interesting. 

Cemetery tour was great. I heard that it is going to be 2 hours and half so I was little worried that I might get super tired and would not be able to enjoy as much but it was not the case. Time flew and I did not feel like it was 2h30. It was very interesting with fun little facts told by the tour guide. I like classical music so it was great to see a grave of Chopin. 

 

Musee de Pompidou was interesting with different kind of art from what we have been seeing.  There were some paintings but I found that photography is also one aspects of creative art.  

I went back to the hotel alone as i got lost at the Museum, which was fine as i mastered the metro. 

Versailles

Day8:May 25th

Versailles !   

From the beginning,  we were confused due to the metro strike but I honestly had a great day!　This is one of the place I have always wanted to do due to the comic book we have in Japan called Rose of Versailles. We were blessed to have such a nice day.

The highlight of the trip for me was Marie Antoinette Hamlet. She did not like to been seen by others as soon as she wake up and all the things she was mandated to do.  Her farming place and garden was beautiful with daisy filed.  The nice little train that we took to her Hamlet was quite bumpy but fun ride. I walked through the palace’s garden to go back to the place where we supposed to meet up. It was such a long walk but seeing beautiful scenery was not too much to deal with.

Tour of the Palace was pretty good but it was little hard for me to understand as the lady had thick accent. Nonetheless, tour was very informative and there were a lot of things I did not know. For example, I did not know that royal family sold some of their furniture in the period of French revolution. I would imagine that they would keep their things for the sake of their prestige and inherit them to their next generation.

As soon as I got back to the hotel, I jumped to bed and went to sleep. I was more exhausted that I thought I actually was. If I have a chance in the future, I would like to visit there again! 

Musee d’Orsay

Day3: May 20^th

Museum and walk day!

We visited Musee d’Orsay today. The building used to be a train station but they renovated to the Museum. Everything in Paris is awesome and this was certainly not an exception. There were soo many people and it was totally understandable why the museum attracts them. There were soo many beautiful Impressionist paining. I thought it was very nice that the museum had neo-impressionist painting as well.

I have not been exposed to a lot of Scriptures but I found some interesting ones in the museum.

Lunch was great. I had a salad and mini éclair for desert. It was very good. I have always been wanted to try one in France so it is now checked off from my list.

It was little unfortunate that I did not get to check out all the things I was supposed to before debrief session but I am sure that I would have time to come back again.

The park we met, Jardin due Luxembourg is amazing, except it was showing. I would love to visit there when it is not raining.  

After the debrief session, I walked around the park and managed to go back to the hotel. I think I got the subway and surrounding area of the hotel figured out. 

At the museum, it was little confusing because I end up losing a lot of people. I managed to get in to one group at lunch thought. 

I went out for exploration after getting back to the hotel. It was raining but still had a great experience. I purchased stuff without speaking english for the first time!!! 

Overall, I had a successful and full of art day. 

My day!! Shopping!

Day7:May 24th

Shopping and fashion museum!

This is my day! After exams are done, I had to move so I could not spend as much time as I wanted but I am glad it went well. A night before, we had printer problem but thanks to the nice receptionist who helped us out with pleasure and helped our day go well.

The day started by going to the fashion museum. My partner was responsible for looking up the roots and I made broacher. Though we had a bit of issue to of getting to the museum, I think it started off nice. I was very happy when a lot of people said that they enjoyed the museum despite its size. I personally thought that museum was great. It certainly wasn't something that is famous but visiting non-tourist place is interesting things to do in Paris. It is also the best way to avoid crowd.

Next, we asked group to go though Rue due Faubourg Saint-Honore . I knew it is going to be long according to the research I did when I was in Canada but it really was long. I thought that I may be on the wrong place soo many times because the street was unexpectedly long!!  This rue was supposed to take me to the Madeline church but not matter how long I walk, it never seemed appear.  30min later, I finally saw the church and I was soo happy and relived that I did not give everyone the wrong information. I feel like I wasn't able to enjoy the street because I was destructed its length and worried that I may have directed everyone to the wrong place.

At 12:30, I am glad that I see almost everyone at the church. Some have left the group and explore on their own. Anyways, church was amazing. It was the most beautiful church I have ever seen.  It was not a gothic church as I have seen in Paris for last few days.

After getting almost everyone together at the church at 12:45, we went to lunch! I went to meat eating option at the Italian restaurant. The risotto I had was great! After the lunch, everyone went on their own till we meet at the hotel at 4:45.

I wonder what happened with the agency that kind of destroyed our night activity, which was to have a tour at the Opera Garnier after hours. Even thought  we get to see the main part, we lost more than half of it. I really hope that we get rebate or reschedule the tour.

Our day ended with a bit of confusing but our planning was good and I hope that everyone had had as much fun as I had! 

Victor Hugo!

 Day6: May 23^th

Victor Hugo! 

I am a big fan of Victor Hugo! Les Miserable got me into his world. I am glad that we had an opportunity to check where he spent his time. His illustration was interesting and knowing that he creates characters from those sketching was very neat.Park we went today was beautiful. It was little bit cloudy toady but I guess it was okay.

The place we explored today was the place I went on the second day. However, listening the organizers informative presentation was great.

Unfortunately, Picasso Museum was closed today but I found that it was very nice that our organizer today picked some paints and pint them out so that we can see.

Cruising at Saint Martin was nice except the rain that falls on us at the last moment. I was happy that I understood some part of French. All the history and little knowledge that was informed by the lady, (I forgot her name..), was interesting. I am unfortunately getting an allergic reaction or sick so me getting wet did not do good on me. Hopefully, I will feel better. 

Today, I can confidently say that I got the metro figured out. I am very used to Paris now and would like to live here.  

Latin area in Paris!

Day5: May 22^th

Latin Museum/Shakspeaer company/ lunch flaffle /phantom

          Today was more less structured compared to the other days, which  was a good thing. I managed to check out all the sites that was suggested by the organizers. Falafel was amazing!! It was very  good the guy worked there was nice as well. I unfortunately forgot to take a photo of the food so I am not going to be able to put it here.  I highly recommend that people go there. It kinda is hidden but it is not that hard to find.

and..sheakspear company was very interesting. I generally am not the book person but even for me, very fun place to go. There were            so many books that interest me such us fashion and capitalism. I am studying sociology and I am interested in fashion. So looking  at the book that makes a connection between two seemingly unrelated topic was fun.

 
My group and  I decided to go grab lunch 
 after sheakspear  company. As I said above, it really was good. I never had falafel so it was a nice pert experience.

Mussee de Louvre on rainy day

Day4: May 21^th

Mussee de Louvre with unfortunate rain!

It was raining today. However, my fist visit to Musee de Louvre was amazing. I found soo many nice great paintings and sculptures. The map in the museum was little confusing so we ended up doing quiet a bit of cardio.

Good thing we came early with our museum pass. I saw a huge line outside in the rain when I looked at the window from the building. I think the organizer planned it very well.

Due to the unfortunate weather, I did not get to go the Arc and Champs-Élysées. I am planning on visiting both of them when I have a time and the weather is good.  

I used the afternoon meeting up with a friend who I met when I was in Toronto. She currently lives in Paris so she took me around and helped me buy shoes. I hand seen hereby for three years so it was nice caching  up with her.

She took to me to the chatele mall which is knot soo far from Bastille. It was a big mall but I was. Dry tired t the point and I knew I had an early morning on the foe eloping day so I decided to say bye.

Although the heavy rain pored on us, it was great seeing her and check out some must see area in Paris.  

This is my favourite painting in the museum of Louvre as i found the colour contrast very interesting! 

Notre Dame Cathedral, Place where Marie Antoinette spent her last life

Day2:May 19^th

First day of exploring Paris…

It was a gorgeous day. It was supposed to rain but it ended up being extremely hot with strong sun. Not being prepared for that had done a little harm on my body.

I started to feel little dizzy and my head was burnt as it observes a lot of heat from the sun.

We managed to get to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Oh boy, wasn't that beautiful. I was impressed with how intricate it was and its history. Stand Glass blew my mind. Photo is not enough to communicate its beauty. You really need to go see with your own eyes.

The point of dividing in a small group was not to lose each other but we ended up losing each other anyway and it was really hard to find people. We are supposed to remain quite as to show our respect. Hence, screaming someone’s name was not an option, which was why it was very difficult to find people.

We went to lunch and walked to the prison where Marie Antoinette spent her last life before executed. It was big and magnificent. It was cool to check out how the prison looked like back then and see how Marie Antoinette had a little bit better treatment then others.

We went to the Cathedral with awesome stand glass in. We were running out of time so it was only a quick visit. Regardless, it was totally worth checking out and was best way to end the day.

I walk back to the hotel from Notre Damn area with my roommate. It took about half and hour but it was nice walk. Surprisingly, we did not get lost at all. I guess I am figuring out what is around here. 

Since we were both exhausted from the day and a day before, we ended up taking a nap right after. The walk was the nest way to conclude the second day in Paris. 

Adventure begins!

Day1:May 18th

This is how my adventure started....

After a long flight from Moncton New Brunswick, I  arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris!!! 

How excited I was? Very much but tiredness was undeniably wining when I land..

When I am going through passport check, my phone died and I could not use my ipad as I could not find a proper Wi-Fi. 

Here is me screaming,

  

             UNACCEPTABLE-! (From Adventure time)

More to come. I had to take a metro to go to the Hotel. I was attempting to take a taxi but I decided to challenge myself!

Just solely following the given instruction and tried not to look like a tourist…. I admit, it was very hard to do so..

This is when I started to fall in love with Paris. I am impressed how people are super nice here. I must have looked unbelievably miserable with two huge suitcases and not being able to clime the stairs. Without me asking, people help me carry my stuff and said “Bon Voyage!”.

Compare to where I am from, this is absolutely extraordinary occurrence. Anyways, I managed to get to the hotel by myself after all without encountering to major issues.

AT 5PM, EFFILE TOWER,

It was beautiful! Spectacular! Amazing! It was indescribably magnificent to explain. It literally made me speechless!

With the great weather, Effie tower is the most beautiful thing I have ever seem. This was first time for me to visit there and it was totally worth going

I went up to the second floor and looked down a city of Paris. The tower was controversial when once upon a time and people were talking about demolishing it. I am very thankful that people did not and still exist today

This is the view with the shadow of the tower.

We also get to see a light up tower.

At this point, it was almost 11pm so I had to dive to the bed right away but it really was a great way to start an adventure in Paris!