One lazy Sunday afternoon, several of us randomly decided to head to Versailles. We had been told that on the weekends, the water shows were a site to see, so we paid to wander through the gardens! Caitlin and I separated off, and searched almost all the grounds of the garden. We thought we had strategically mapped our course to end up at the fountain that had the water show, but needless to say, we were wrong. After standing around for quite some time, we checked our brochure again, and realized that the water show was at the complete other side. We decided then that it was time to start power walking.
We knew we were getting close, when we all of a sudden heard loud drumming, and the music that was supposed to go along with the water show start. We, being our touristy selves, started sprinting to the water show. I’m sure that it was a funny site. Me, with my camera bag and purse criss - crossed and strapped across my chest like machine gun bullet belts, flopping about and trying to keep my sandals and sunglasses from falling to the ground, and Caitlin, who is not the most suave person in the world trying to daintily plow through massive crowds of people. We finally reached the clearing where the fountain was to realize that we hadn’t missed anything at all yet. The show hadn’t even begun to start! We piled in behind the crowd, and I posed camera ready for the lights and fountains to start their show. After about ten minutes of muttering between each other about what time it was and when the show was supposed to start, the fountain spouts sputtered and stopped shooting water out. That’s when we realized, that we had seen the entire water show without realizing it. I didn’t even get any pictures. Oh well, wasn’t quite the Las Vegas water show that I had thought we were in for, but we got a good laugh out of it. Here are a couple of pictures that I did get of the Versailles Gardens. We are hoping to go back and tour the actual house soon.
Caitlin, Katy, Katie, Kelsey, and I
Later that night, we decided that we were all going to start a tradition of having ‘family’ dinners, and the theme was a group consensus of AMERICAN. I contributed with a delicious fruit salad, while others brought apple pie, salad, french fries, parmesan potato fries, coke, and delicious roasted chicken. A couple of pictures of the feast are below. Next ‘family’ dinner’s theme is Italian. I am thinking about bringing bruschetta.
Will, Drew, (don't know who this is), Arya, and Saba
Just some of the delicious food
One of our recent classes was a walking tour that Professor Keel put on himself. We had to 'think critically' about what we were seeing. It was a joke, but we did get some cool pictures!
Katy and Caitlin
Taylor Lykes also came in to town, which was quite a nice surprise! I had quiche, artichoke, and champagne with her for dinner one night, and she and her friend Josh joined us for a little get together before going out on Thursday night. Most people in my group were out of town, but since it was the night before Katy headed to Scotland, we went on a search for our salsa bar in the Latin Quarter. Unlike the time that we went out to the Latin Quarter with the boys, in which we were not allowed in to a single club, the bartenders and bouncers were beckoning us to come in. We made sure that the boys knew this when they returned from Amsterdam and Prague. Anyways, the sangrias were not as delicious as remembered, and after getting creeped on by many Italians, we made our way to the street and searched out for some other bars. Most were not really what we were looking for so we finally just decided to grab some frites and call it quits.
Kelsey, Caitlin, Katy, and I
Caitlin, Kelsey, Katy, Taylor, and I
Katy, myself, and Taylor!
Katy was well missed the next day, but Caitlin, Kelsey, and I had adventures of our own. Friday, we leisurely strolled throughout the Latin Quarter, and found our way to a bookstore we had been wanting to visit. It is called Shakespeare and Company. The bookstore houses young writers, also known as ‘tumbleweeds’, who earn their keep by working in the shop for a couple of hours a day. We met one young man who just up and left everything in San Francisco, and took time off to write. It all seemed a little surreal. This new bookstore is named after and in honor of an earlier store that was closed during World War II. It was considered to be the center of the Angle/American literary culture in Paris, and the shop was often visited by Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce. The store is mentioned several times in Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. We all bought a book, and mine was attributed to the Poet’s Corner. Here are a couple of pictures from the store. Afterwards, we headed to a cute little restaurant called Cafe Panis, and sat for a long while eating club sandwiches and frites, as well as having a chocolate and pear dessert and noisette cafe (hazelnut coffee). We read, chatted, and people watched, until it was time to head back.
We decided that since it was actually so nice to have a night to ourselves, the three of us snuggled in for a night of watching Sex and The City. We are preparing for the second movie to make its way to Paris soon!
The next day was much of the same as the day before. I think that the past two and a half weeks had finally caught up to us! We did realize that The Cite was putting on a party. As well as our next door neighbors, the Belgian house! We finally wandered next door as the sun was beginning to set. We grabbed some Belgian beers, and were amazed as we began to hear a very familiar song - the Belgian band was playing THUNDERSTRUCK. That’s right. It was one of the best songs that we could have possibly walked up to. Here are a couple pictures of us by the stage!
Joy, Caitlin, and I
Joy, Kelsey, and Caitlin
As the group returned from Prague and Amsterdam, we exchanged stories, and prepared for classes the next day. On Monday, Caitlin, Katy, and I finally got our reservations for our Eurail passes and train tickets! We had already gone once, and couldn’t find an english speaking patron, but we finally met Florent, and he helped us out. I am now booked for Amsterdam and Brussels, Munich, Rome, Barcelona, and Interlaken. We still have to book Nice and Cannes, as well as hopefully, a flight to Prague. Last night (Monday night), to celebrate finally getting our train reservations, we headed to this chic bar called Le Piano Vache that we had been longing to visit. Johnny Depp has been known to show up there. No spotting of Johnny Depp, but we did hear some great music by the man of Rodolphe Raffalli. Here is his official site if you want to hear - click here! I will be taking my mom there when she comes to visit!
Here are a couple of other random photos from the past week and a half!
Arya, myself, and Drew
Drew, Caitlin, Saba, Arya, myself, Will, Katy, and Obi
Saba dancing to Umbrella by Rihanna at the bar!
Drew, Will, Arya, Kelsey, Saba, Obi, Caitlin, myself, Katy, and Katie
Kelsey, myself, and Caitlin
Caitlin with some rugby fans
Katy and I in front of the Pantheon at night!
