Paris

Hi. I'm in Paris. It's beautiful. Today we left for Versailles at 7:45, got there around 9, and marveled at just how huge the line was. The palace is massive, but maybe not as massive as the expanse of tour buses and tourists. Gross. We thought about buying a museum pass yesterday that would allow us to see pretty much everything in the city for €59 over 4 days. We didn't luckily. We've been pretty crafty and clever. We saw the Musèe de l'Orangerie and the Musèe d'Orsay yesterday for a combined €6. I loved the d'Orsay. It's the best museum I've been to - a topic I feel I now have at least some authority on. As much as I loved d'Orsay, Paris might love students more. Especially students who lie about the duration of their stay in the EU and claim to have been studying for a full year in order to qualify for the "EU students under 26 who have been studying for at least 6 months" designation. Not illegal, but probably not ethical. Maybe not nearly as unethical as accidentally cutting a 3 hour line at Versailles. We were told there was a pre-purchased ticket line and since students use their ID as a ticket, we thought we qualified. We probably would've qualified, if such a thing existed. Looking back I think we somehow snuck in the handicap/VIP line. Although as you all know, there's a fairly decent chance I'm eligible for VIP status, so I guess it wasn't unethical after all. Please don't take that last comment seriously. The regular price for the Palace of Versailles is €25. I wouldn't recommend it at all. It was miserable. Beautiful - just as you'd expect - but I felt trapped everywhere I went. There was a flow to the palace. A flow that moved fast in the rooms you'd like to see, and excruciatingly slow in the stairways and corridors. But it was free. Plus the Hall of Mirrors was cool. The gardens on the other hand were unbelievable. We walked around the grounds for maybe 2 hours. Spending a whole day there might be enough to do it justice. Great pictures coming...

After Versailles we boarded the train back to Central Paris. Got back around 1:30, checked into our 3rd hotel (long story.. I'll explain later) and got a great lunch. Can't remember the name but we're going back tomorrow for breakfast so I'll take a pic or do something touristy so I can remember the name. It was along the lines of Panera but much better and I ate with wooden utensils. Weird.

After eating plants with pieces of tree, I went to the Louvre. The Louvre was the Louvre. Famous for it's size, it's ridiculous number of pieces, the Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa, it rivaled Disney World (or Venice, hah) for the most touristy place I've been. It was too much. All great stuff, of course, but it would take at least two full days to completely see and understand everything. I had 3 hours. After what I've seen and done this semester, it's fair to say I'm museumed out. Obviously this is a First World Problem but I need to stop visiting them. I've been "studying in the EU for 6 months" so it too was free. The Louvre, for free. I saw 3 of the best museums in the world, the Palace of Versailles and it's gardens all within 30 hours. I really have nothing to complain about. I know how fortunate I am but after seeing so much in so little time, the importance of ancient Egyptian jewelry got a little lost on me. Add the museumed out aspect with the constant annoyance towards those who pose in front of EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE WHOLE MUSEUM!!! is too much to handle. Every room has "No photos please" signs, but that won't stop the non-Western people of this world from fully documenting everything in every museum right down to the sign explaining why a piece was on loan to another museum. Maybe if it was a famous piece, but I'm certain that dude hadn't the foggiest idea what it was. I know I didn't.

Anyway...

Today was good. This whole trip is good. I'm laying in my hotel bed now. Two nights ago I slept in a bed one floor away, last night I slept on the other side of the city. Tomorrow I'll be a few blocks away. This is a funny (tragic) story that I'll explain when I have more time.

Tonight we're going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and having a nice French dinner. Tomorrow is monument and church day. Tuesday is Labor Day or something so we're going to stroll around and enjoy Paris from the outside since it will be shutdown. My flight leaves Paris around 9:30. I should clarify: the airport isn't in Paris. It might actually be closer to Brussels. I vow that this will be my last Ryanair flight for as long as I live. EasyJet is a pleasure. Ryanair, a nightmare. The journey to the airport is a mere 80-minute train ride and 25-minute bus ride away. But hey, it's Paris. One of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's worth it. It's all worth it. This is the perfect city to end my insane European adventure with. After I get back to Rome late Tuesday, I have a presentation in the Vatican museums, a presentation on the ignorance of austerity when combatting a recession, and most importantly: three glorious weeks in Rome. But I shouldn't be thinking too much about that. My stay in Paris isn't even halfway over. I'll check back in Tuesday night and over the next three weeks I'll post more. I'll finish London, which deserves more recognition for it's awesomeness. I'll talk about the strange and surprising Budapest and Istanbul, the pure beauty of Santorini, Athens and it's amazing history, the canals and perfectness of Amsterdam, the Capitol of Europe: Brussels, Paris and it's elegance, and if you're lucky I may tell more of Rome, the city that can never cease to impress. I'll travel Italy with the Dunn girls, then I'll be in the foreign farmland of Central Illinois. Home.