a massive update

Wow. The last time I really put up anything of significance was when I got sick. Well, I was definitely sick the entire time I was in Paris the first time ... it kinda sucked. I mean, sniffing and sneezing in the most beautiful (YES!) city in the world was just not cool. But Paris was so pretty. I wanted to just sit in front of the Eiffel Tower and stare at it. Speaking of the Eiffel Tower, this is the column I wrote for the DT about how I was left behind on the thing. Anyway, the first weekend, Aaron, Erika and I saw the major stuff -- Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc d' Triomphe, Bastille and other similar things. We stayed at a hotel 5 minutes from the Bastille and ate at a cafe about a block from the roundabout that has good salmon quiche. Yum. :) At the Eiffel Tower, on the green/garden part where the fountains are across the tower, there is a stand that sells delicious crepes. When Matt, Erik and I went, we stayed at a hostel near the Repulbique and there was also a really good crepe place on the way to the metro stop.

The Louvre was so huge that I only saw what amounted to 1/3 of one wing ... and there are three wings! The Mona Lisa was anticlimatic -- sort of like reading Romeo and Juliet in English class -- because it was talked about so much anyway, seeing the actual thing wasn't as much a thrill as expected.

The second weekend, with Matt and Erika, we went to the Louvre again, saw more stuff, and STILL didn't get finished. That place is enormous. It's also a maze. Even with an English-language map in hand and signs around the museum, I still needed to find a "you are here" directory to navigate. I think it took me about 20 minutes to find the Aphrodite/Venus statue, aftering circling around and around. I did successfully find the Code of Hamurabi, which, I think, is the first recorded set of laws in the world... it's also really strict.

With Matt and Erika, we saw the Egyptian exhibits and French, Italian and Spanish paintings and French sculptures they displayed in a sunlit courtyard in the middle of the Richelieu (I think) wing. They were pretty. When you walk into the Louvre from the Musee du Louvre metro stop, you are actually walking underneath the biggest of the I.M. Pei pyramids. You can then take the escalator up to the street level and walk around the plaza (the three wings form a U and the largest pyramid is in the middle). From the plaza, you can see the Eiffel Tower.

The second week, we went to Chateau de Versailles, which, apparently, is outside the Paris city proper, and we had to pay extra to take the metro there. We didn't know that, so we had to pay about 2.50 Euros ... the police told us that if Parisians did that, the fine is 35 Euros.

Versailles is beyond beautiful. You can see why the French were furious with the royal family when the citizens were starving. Versailles is opulent. It's really ornate with tons of gold and paintings and candeliers ... and, of course, the Hall of Mirrors, which was partly under renovation when we were there.

The palace was gorgeous, but the real beauty is in the gardens.Trees and grass and flowers and fountains as far as the eye can see. And a canal! With canoes! It's amazing. There are also cute little walks on the side to stroll in peace .... so pretty. And we went on a clear day, too. Speaking of clear days, Paris was sunny and warm when we were there. It feels like summer was just ending, but fall is only creeping around the corners. I think it was in the 70s when we were there, both times.

I first heard about the Centre Pompidou in French class in high school but didn't really know what's in it. But there is a modern art museum in it, so Matt and I went on our last night in Paris. It's pretty cool, more so than the Tate Modern.

Speaking of the Tate Modern, Matt and I finished it last Friday, along with Tate Britain. Tate Britain was a letdown, it didn't really have any really awesome paintings, although there is one with an amazing sunset landscape and one with Ophelia dying. Those are the main ones. But nothing special, really. And after awhile, I got really tired of looking at the same paintings room after room. But the last exhibit I went to at Tate Modern was really awesome ... it's really a 3-D collage of sorts about the Iraq war, with cardboard U.S. soldiers forming a fence around the stuff inside like mushrooms (like bombs) and books, etc.

I also went to the National Portrait Gallery, Hyde Park (soooo pretty), Kensington Gardens, Knightsbridge, Harrods (had to!) and places around there. Oh! And the Tower of London, but it was kinda boring. It was just a lot of towers with creaky wooden floors. But ... I did get pictures of actual Beefeaters! :)

On Sunday, I went to Greenwich to walk around, but it was super touristy and not much fun. And windy.

You should read about the cookie-baking experiments.

All right, that's about it, at least the important stuff. I'm going to the Hungarian consulate tomorrow morning to get a tourist visa to go to Budapest (YES!) the weekend of the 17th. It's going to be super fun. :)