Jours 19-21

Bonjour tout le Monde!

Jours 19-21

May 10-May 12

WOW, these past couple of days have had a lot going on. It is crazy to think that I have already been here in Paris for three weeks and that my time here is already half-way over. Okay so quick back-track before I start telling what I did on Tuesday (May 10). On Sunday I made friends with these people that went to BYU who were here on vacation. We thought it would be fun to meet up with them, so we planned on Monday to get together on Tuesday. Okay, so on Tuesday we had class, as normal, and decided to do walk #4. While on the way to walk number four, I saw the road that I had stayed at with my family when I came to Paris six years ago!

The road of where our apartment was 

There also happened to be a dominos on the street, and in a moment of weakness that actually turned out to be a great decision, we bought a delicious Pizza to feed all three of us four eight euros.

At the end of the walk we were able to meet up with our friends at the Musée Rodin. We went to the Sacré-Coeur with them, a beautiful church up on the hill above Paris. Although it was raining, we were still able to see a beautiful view up there.

Sacré-Coeur

The View from Sacré-Coeur

After, we ate some dinner and watched the lights go off at the Eiffel tower. After, we biked along the Seine to Notre-Dame. This was actually my favorite thing that I have done in Paris so far. Paris is amazing because everything is so close to each other and so we were able to pass the Louvre, the Orsay, Hôtel de Ville, and of course the Eiffel tower and Notre-Dame. After a quick snack in the Latin Quarter we headed home.

Melissa, Stephanie and I and our newfound friends

The next day (Wednesday the 11^th) was a day of relaxing. I justify sleeping the whole afternoon away by the fact that it was raining hard outside, but it was a very much needed sleep. I also went to the Petit Palais before coming home after class, which can be read about in Promenade #4. After an afternoon of relaxing, watching Netflix and doing homework I had dinner with my host family. We had quiche, which was so delicious. Our mom then took us to this overlook of Paris from our town. It was really beautiful. There was also a military building for the United-States next to it, along with a cemetery for WWII veterans from the United-States. After, our mom took us on a car tour of our village. We saw places that Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in, buildings that dated back to the middle ages, and the newer part of Rueil-Malmaison along the Seine which was gorgeous.

The eiffel tower (very little and lit up) from the view point in our town

The American Cemetery next to the viewpoint

Thursday was packed for things to do with school. We had class in the morning, and we did promenade #6 after class. My friends and I were able to make it to the Musée D’orsay after running through the rain. I absolutely LOVED the Musée D’orsay. I think, actually I know what made it so amazing was our tour guide. It is so easy to be in love and enchanted with the different painting when you have a tour guide that is so passionate about art. I was able to learn so many interesting facts about paintings that I know I would not have even looked at had I been there without a tour guide. I love being able to learn about the change in art as time moves on, and how one painting can simultaneously be beautiful, but also making a very big political statement about government and religion.

Van Gogh's self Portrait in the Musée D'Orsay

After the Musée D’orsay my friends and I headed out to Versailles to hear President Uchtdorf talk. Getting there was an absolute mess. We took the wrong train because there are two trains that go to Versailles, and then we had to run over to the building. Stephanie and I were a half hour late but we got there in time for his talk! His talk was actually amazing. He talked about how important it is to love everyone, how we need to endure to the end, how we need to be worthy to go to the temple and how we need to listen to our heart. 

At the meeting with president Uchtdorf

I am so excited that Paris is getting a temple, and I hope to be able to go in it one day. After, we headed out and of course barely missed the train and had to wait for another half-hour for it. I’ve decided I’m bad luck when it comes to trains.

À Bientôt,
Claire Hunsaker