We arrived in a hurry. We went straight from the bus to a group dinner with incredible cesaer salad and creme brule. As we left the resteraunt we caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. It hit us all at the same time- we're in PARIS! Everyone was smiling, laughing, taking pictures, talking in excited tones. We couldn't handle it.
We then got on a boat and floated down the Seine River through the center of the city.
We saw the Louvre, Notre Dame, famous government buildings, the Eiffel Tower, everything. Soon the sun set and we lost it again. It was breathe-taking. But that wasn't enough. A rainbow started to solidify in the clouds. 9 o-clock hit and the Eiffel Tower dazzled us as it sparkled for 5 minutes straight. Can I even explain this to you? We had been in Paris less that 3 hours and all of this was happening all around us. It was honestly magical. I fell in love with Paris.
London did not impress me. People kept talking about the "energy" of the city. I felt nothing. It was empty. Full of fashion, working, and drinking.
But Paris. I feel the energy here. We had a lot of class since our first night in the city. Our first paper was assigned and so most of our free time has been spent in our hotels researching and writing. So I will admit that I have not had much time to explore. But somehow, I love this city. Saying it is beautiful does not describe it to you, but everything about it is beautiful.
(picture from the cruise)
Our living situations right now are hotel apartments with 4 people per apartment. I have had wonderful wonderful meals of pasta, salad, bread, dark chocolate, and wine with two of my roommates (Laura and Mackenzie). We shared stories, listened to country music, laughed, and enjoyed our lovely view. (Including the lovely view of our man neighbor whom we have named Pierre. He likes to wash his windows shirtless).
This is what I thought of when I envisioned Europe Semester (not Peirre, everything else).
I have decided to attend a church service in every city that we go to (that falls on a Sunday). This Sunday a group of us went to Sainte Chapelle before our International Mass at Notre Dame. Sainte Chapelle is mind-blowing, every single wall is stained glass from nearly floor to ceiling. The chapel itself tells 1,113 stories from the Bible. What. The. Heck.
But in every cathedral I enter I continually think of the windows at the top of these churches. Part of the reason of stained glass is so that the illiterate people at the time could know Bible stories visually. But no one can see nor read those windows 50 ft high. I know that is not a profound thought, but what is their point then? There is beauty, but where does beauty override Gospel purpose in these places?
Notre Dame was incredible in an entirely different way. In class this week we better learned of the physics of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals, so my experience in that church was heightened by this new knowledge. It is incredible. Though we went to the International Mass, it was still about 90% in French. I had not even been to a mass in English before so this was all entirely foreign to me. I was drifting off and decided to pray for most of the service. (Thomas, Daniel, Mom, Sam, Eric- I prayed for you in the Notre Dame, how cool is that?!)
After writing papers all day, some of us decided we needed a break. We took the metro to the island on the Seine that Notre Dame is on and had literally the world's best ice cream. It is only found on this island. But once I got my chocolate and pistachio cone, the heavens opened up. It rained SO HARD. Everyone abandoned the streets and ran into shops for cover. We sat under an overhang outside a little cafe until our ice cream was gone.. then we just decided to run for it. We were the only ones in the streets of Paris because all of the locals knew it would be over in about 10 minutes. But we didn't care. We were soaked through and through, running through puddles are warm, refreshing rain.
Today we spent most of our day in the Louvre. (I plan on telling y'all about that experience later). We returned to the hotel, wrote more of our papers, then ended the evening with a picnic with the whole group (45 people) on the lawn beneath the Eiffel Tower. We watched the sun set from the tower and went to the top as the lights sparkled.
My friend Ian performed a fake proposal to me on the top of the tower which some strangers video taped (You Tube baby). That's right, I'M ENGAGED. Being on the Eiffel Tower with so many friends was so wonderful. Being in Paris with so many friends is incredible. I am full of so much joy and excitement as I recall all of this. We ended our night with crepes, ice cream, and the finishing of history papers.
Tomorrow: Versailles!
Bonsoir,
Laura
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