Baguettes and the Eiffel Tower

           I just got back from a week in France. This was a trip everybody in my program goes to—our fall tour. So we took a bus the whole way and our art teacher, Frau Loos, accompanied us as well. It’s great because we got to so many museums and stay at hotels that I’d never go to if I had to pay myself lol! On the way to Paris we stopped in Ulm and Metz. In Ulm we toured their cathedral which was really beautiful. It’s my favorite gothic cathedral we’ve visited so far and trust me we see a ton of them lol! In Metz we toured Champagne Cellar Taittinger. This is in the Champagne region of France which is the only place that is actually allowed to call their sparkling wine Champagne. They have a ton of rules too about the process, like grapes have to be hand picked. It was cool touring the cellar because it has so much history: It was dug first by the Romans for chalk the used for their buildings, then later in 13^th cent. it was used as a prayer room and wine cellar for catholic monks, then in WWI it was used as a bomb shelter and hospital, and now it’s a wine cellar again. In one place you could see carvings from all these people and time of history on the walls!
            In Paris we had a full schedule. We visited Fontainebleau: a castle and hunting villa went to mass in Notre Dame, saw the Gates of hell at Musée Rodin, toured Versailles, wandered through the Louvre, looked at paintings in Musée d’Orsay, and walked through Sainte-Chapelle. And this was just our schedule group tours! In the evenings we were free to wander wherever we wanted, so the first night we went to see the Eiffel tower. I know it’s such a stereotypical thing, when you think France you think Eiffel tower, but it was really gorgeous. It made me realize that I’m actually here—I’m in Europe! Other nights we shopped, walked around the city, and watched the people. The city was the best at night—it cam alive with culture and people. On the last night, I had an actual French meal of escargot, lamb chops, and a baked apple dessert. It was delicious! On other nights we usually just brought picnic food (stuff we stole from breakfast and baguettes ha) and just found pretty spots to eat, like under the Eiffel tower or over looking the city from the Sacre Coeur cathedral. This was probably one of my favorite trips thus far :)

Our first night seeing the Eiffel Tower :)