Because One Day Isn't Enough

So it was my birthday on Monday but really celebrations started on Thursday. Excessive? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely. Unfortunately, turning 21 in France (or anywhere else in the world) is not as big a deal as it is in the United States. However, I like to think that I did my best to celebrate in a true Wisconsin way. Here is a recap:

Thursday: Club Mix

On Thursdays, foreigners get in to this club for free! It's not the best club in town but they play decent music and there's usually a lot of people.

Friday: Cafe Oz
I think this was probably the best night of the weekend! We went to Cafe Oz which is an Australian bar/club and it was so much fun! We actually ended up running into other friends from school there so it was a blast.

We left after the metro closed and we're forced to take the bus back. Apparently, we took it in the wrong direction and the entire ride ended up taking around an hour and a half. We got home around 6am! Oh well. At least we had a good time chatting on the bus and it makes for an interesting story!

Saturday: Bastille
After a failed attempt to eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant, me and several girls from WI/IL ended up having dinner at an Italian restaurant near the Bastille. I ate an entire pizza and obviously still had enough room for gelato after (no surprises). After dinner, we went to an Irish bar for some dancing. It was a great time! It ended up being somewhat of a girls night which is always fun.

This Post is About Random Things

The title is self explanatory.

Dogs: They are everywhere here. And people are allowed to take them anywhere. Cafes, on the metro, into clothing stores. It doesn't matter where, they are allowed. It's never been a problem especially since they're all so cute. It's just weird to be sitting at a restaurant and seeing a dog at the table next to you.

Tandem Project: My school offers a program where you meet with another student to practice speaking a different language. I met with my partner for the first time this week! He's from the south of France but goes to school in Paris. Basically, we just talk about random things in English and then switch to French. Obviously, his English is better than my French but I try anyway.

Palais et Jardins du Luxembourg: I went to the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens the other day and it was gorgeous! I think it was last Sunday so it was packed with people (mostly families) just walking around or playing with their kids. The palace itself is now a museum and I think also serves as the office for some government branch or agency. I didn't actually go in this time but I know there are some art exhibits and plan on returning later. It's still only Fecruary but the grass is already green and they already started planting flowers so I can only imagine what it will look like in a month! So beautiful!

Fountain in the Gardens

Palais du Luxembourg

Superbowl: I know this was a little bit ago but I decided to go watch the Superbowl  with a few other Wisconsin girls. It started at around midnight here and ended at around 4am. I don't know why I was so compelled to go especially since I had to be at school in the morning but I went anyway. It was a good time! There were some crazy French Packer fans there. I had no idea American footbal even had a fanbase in France!

Watching the game at a bar.

Double cheeseburger and fries was absolutely necessary.

Planning a trip: Doing this is a lot more work than I thought but the two girls I'm going with and I have been making some progress. Flights and most hotels/hostels have been booked! We finally decided the cities we want to go to and have come up with a plan. We're flying into Prague, then taking a train to Munich. From there, we're taking a train to Salzburg and then another train to Vienna. We are going for literally our entire break: we leave on the 17th at night and don't come back until early morning on the 28th! I have class later that day but I don't care, it will be worth it. I can't believe we leave this week! So excited!

Birthday: My birthday celebrations have begun! More details on that later...

Chartres

On Saturday, I took the train with three other girls to Chartres. It's a small town outside of Paris with a beautiful church and cute little shops and restaurants. It was only about an hour train ride and the weird thing was that no one ever checked our tickets. The weather was not that great-- it was kind of rainy and windy but it was still a good day. Actually, it was so windy that it almost reminded me of walking to class in Madison. Definitely don't miss that!

The front of the church was  being renovated so I couldn't really get a good look at it (or picture of it). But the rest of it was beautiful. There's a small garden behind the church along with benches and paths that overlooks the rest of the town.

Front of the Cathedral-
Ignore the construction!

Side View of the Cathedral

The church is built in the Gothic style and it is so unbelievably old. It's very obvious just from looking at the stone inside and outside the church.

One of the most impressive aspects of the cathedral are the stained glass windows. The blue in the windows is unique to this church. You can't really notice it on this picture but it's brighter and more concentrated (if that makes sense) than others I have seen.

Just to emphasis how long this church has been around, they have a first century relic on display. I think it was from the year six hundred something.

After visiting the cathedral, we walked around the town and ran into the local market. There was a ton of fruits, vegetables, meat, but most importantly cheese!

Musée Hopping

I don't have class on Wednesdays so I have been using this day to explore the city. This Wednesday, I decided  to go to Invalides and to Musée Rodin.

Hôtel des Invalides

This place is huge! It houses several military/army museums and Napoleon's tomb. I ended up going to the one that had history from Louis XIV to Napoleon and the World War I/World War II museum. They had a lot of the military gear worn and the weapons used during all the wars in those periods. The World Wars museum also had pictures and movies, which made it more interesting. I didn't go to all of them because it's not really something I'm into, but it was a great experience!

Entrance to Les Invalides

My favorite part was definitely Napoleon's tomb. His body is actually in six coffins in the middle of this circular room. There are two levels to this room-- so you can see it from above and at ground level. You can't really tell from this picture but it's huge! I guess you can look at the people in the picture to get an idea of how big it really is.

Napoleon's Tomb

 The whole building is very impressive and the amount of detail is unbelievable. I also really liked this altar which was completely decorated in gold and marble.

Musée Rodin

The second museum I went to was the Musee Rodin, which is dedicated entirely to the sculptor with a few paintings from other famous artists. This museum wasn't as old as the other ones I've been to but it was just as pretty. There are gardens in the front and the back but I didn't really get to see them because I got there right before it was closing. Either way, I plan on going back in the spring when everything is blooming. Oh, and you can see Les Invalides on the right in this picture.

Musée Rodin

Travel Update:

I haven't left Paris since I've been here, which I'm okay with, but I'll be leaving it for the first time this weekend. On Saturday, I'm going to Chartres which is about an hour away from the city via train. I have also started planning my travels for break at the end of the month. Right now the plan is to go to Berlin, Munich, Prague, and Vienna. So excited!