Midterm trip - day four and five

So I am writing this between watching Skins (which is taking a while to load) so if it seems a little choppy I apologize. New season of Skins! Yay! Anywho, I will get to the interesting stuff, like my fourth day (the Thursday) of my midterm break trip. I woke up (as is usually recommended) and got myself all ready to take the coach into London with the rest of the English class. We were to be given a literary tour of Paris that morning by the three english profs. It was quite cold (compared to what it had been the day before) and I got off to a great start when I had my most epic fall of all time. I slipped on a grate (they have it in for me) and went to correct it with the other foot but that one slipped too and I fell on my side. I wasnt injured in any way (its all that milk, I swear) so I just kept going along. We were mostly just walked around Paris a bunch with a couple stops here and there. Some stories about Oscar Wilde and other great literaries. Unfortunately the entire group also had an Art History feild study so we all had to migrate before the tour was over. The profs"luckily the only thing your missing is the Shakespeare & Co." which happens to be a vast Shakespeare store. Thanks guys for saving that for last.

When we got to the Louvre we were told that the tour before us (the art history group before us) was running behind so we would have to wait outside until Daphne (our prof giving the tour) was done and could come out to get us in. This seemed redicuous to most people as it is the Louvre and as much extra time inside as possible would be awsome. So some how someone got us in early giving us about 10 extra minutes to look around. The tour was intersting. We got to see a bunch of the stuff we studied. This includes the Mona Lisa. You have probably heard this before but it is insane trying to get near it. I didnt try. I just wanted to see it, partially so that I could say I've seen it (I mean you cant go to the Louvre without at least glancing at it) and also because it is a famous work of art that deserves a look. I think it is kinda silly that people get sooo worked up over it, I mean right accross from it is the dinner a Cana (I might have the name wrong) and it is huge and beautiful and no one even sees it. It is really sad. It annoys me that people kept telling me not to bother with the Mona Lisa or that it was a disappointment or what ever because it is so small and blahblahblah. I mean it is a huge part of history, it shouldnt be judged based on its size or the amount of attention it receives.

After that we got lead through the outside Gardens to the Place de la concord to meet the busses that were going to take us to Versaille (those that wanted to go). I met Kari walking through the Gardens. I still cant beleive I was only in the Louvre for an hour and a half. The only disappointment for my trip, i would have liked at least another hour or two, I would have done that instead of the literary tour. Anywho,too late now. We stopped for Crepes and I had my first chocolate crepe. It was soo intense!!! Chocolate and crepe everywhere. It was amazing! Anywho we got a good spot on the coach that was to take us to Versaille, so it was a pretty comfy ride. Once we got there we ditched the Art History group (Daphne was going to give a talk in the Gardens because she wasnt allowed to inside) because we only had a couple hours to do the whole thing. Kari, Cameron, Ellie and I all walked around together and let me tell you it was crazy! It was so intense. I mean this thing practically screams excess. Needless to say I loved it and would want to be one of those asswipe aristocrats who lived there. I mean there were entire rooms made of marble or entirely gold leafed or intricately painted. The Gardens were beautiful too, though I would like to go back in spring sometime and see all of the gardens and the little extra things that you have to take trains out to. I loved Marie's room, and I am not a flower person but it was dripping with floral everywhere. It was intense.

Lets see, after that we got the coach back into Paris and back to our hostel. We hung out in our room for about an hour and tried some cheese Katie had gotten that day. At around 7pm a bunch of us got on the coach to go into Paris for our River Saine tour/cruise. I sat with Charlotte and Addy and Charlotte and I chatted about dance and work and teachers and stuff. There was a bit of a hold up on the coach because the SLCs (Student Life Co-ordinators) had gotten word that there was a demonstration going on at the Eiffel tower, right near where we were going to be. We could tell they were freaked out and trying to figure out whether they could actually take us, like whether it would be safe. I dont know if you remember but last year there were some demonstrations in Paris and it got violent and stuff, so it was a tense hour or so when we were being taken in to the city centre. It ended up being ok and aparently the demonstration got taken down really quickly so nothing really happened. Charlotte and I took an enormous amount of pictures while on the cruise and basically just played with our cameras the whole time. Sarah M and Addy were sitting in front of us so we got lots of pictures of them too. After the cruise Amy and I were the only ones that wanted to head back so we made our way back to the hostel. It took us a while to figure out where the station we wanted was, but we got back safe and sound.

The next day (the Friday) I quite comedically woke up in an extraordinarily fowel mood. I peeked out my curtain and Katy looked at me and asked if I was ok because apparently i had the angriest look on my face. I just grumbled and pulled the covers over my head. I appologised to them later, but now that I look back on it it was pretty funny. A bunch of us got some friends to put our bags on the coaches for us as we were heading into Paris early so we could see some things last minute. I headed off on my own for Notre Dame. I found it pretty easily and explored around a bit. I unfortunately didnt have time to go up the tower, but it was still nice to see the place and walk more along the Saine. I also got a cheese crepe. It was death in a wrap basically. The texture was amazing, but not a lot of flavour. I only got a two thirds through it because it was soo cheesey and intense. On the subway I bought some strawberries and when I got to the Place de la Concord I went into a washroom to wash them. So I sat in the park in front of the Louvre and ate strawberries and waited for the time to come that the coaches would be available to get on. I met up with Amy, Katie and Amanda on the busses, luckily we al got seats near the front. It wasnt much of an eventful drive other than they put on some movie adapted by a Steven King novel and Katie refused to tell me the ending!

Our next stop (for all history students) was (sorry I do not remember the name) a German base for experimenting in bambs and rockets and stuff in World War 2. It was build by slaves and is basically this compund made of underground tunnels and stuff. It looks like something from a science fiction film from the outside. It was very strange but very real. Everyone was saying how horrible it was and how bad they felt for the people who were enslaved to build it and stuff, but to be honest by this point I had blockd myself off from the sadness or horror of it all. I mean we had seen soo many bad things that were a part of history and so many "horrors" and stuff and I was not in the mood to be depressed. So I trudged along and tried to learn as much as I could, because at this point I found it hard to be compassionate anymore.

Once back on the coach it was a short ride to the ferry. I hung out mostly with Cameron and Kari while on the boat, we watched it leave the dock from outside, it was very pretty and calming, especially because it was dark by this point. We kept ourselves entertained by looking around the boat and watching the strange refreshments machine do this weird robotic thing to grab and deposit our drinks. It was crazy! The ride wasnt too long thank god and we mostly slept on our way back to the castle. Even though it was really late there was pizza and fruit and juice waiting for us when we got into Bader. I chatted with Angie and Kevin for a bit then passed right out for a nice nights sleep.

Sorry it took so long to get this one out. I will try to stop procrastinating with these!