I've missed this!

I am not one that does well with a lot of free time on my hands. I enjoy it at first, being lazy. Or even not being lazy, and doing all of the things I've wanted to do. Sometimes it's nice to break from routine and not have to be anywhere or do anything. But after a couple days like that it gets tiresome. I need a schedule (preferably one that can't be altered by me) to feel like I'm not wasting time. This last (5 day) weekend therefore, having no homework, nowhere to be and nothing scheduled, was a little hard for me. The days when we planned really fun things to do, like the catacombs, were awesome. But then I ran out of ideas--I mean there are only so many touristy things to do, and I've done most of them--pretty all that's left are the museums (and let's face it, one can only go to so many museums/cathedrals/exhibits). So I was getting a little tired of Paris (I feel so guilty admitting that). Not tired of it as in I don't appreciate how lucky I am to be here. I was just looking forward to the excursions and things coming up and seeing other parts of France and Europe.

And I'm happy to report that today did not disappoint! Our other professor (they switched off) is here now, and class was so interesting today!! Unfortunately I didn't realize I could have taken the Renaissance history class so I'm kind of mad at myself about that. But it's ok because I don't need the credit (I'm already technically a senior and I still have 2 years left!) and Prof Hudson is going to let those of us who aren't in it audit. So I stayed for it, and it was so cool!! We spent the first hour going over different elements of Renaissance architecture, the different terms and such, and then the rest of class was a field trip (down the street) to see the actual things in person. How crazy is that?? It is so much more interesting knowing the history of the buildings and of Paris--it makes you look at everything with a new perspective. This is one of the buildings we looked at, it's now a library:

It's also really cool to see places that are depicted in really old paintings like this one:

This renaissance painting is of the Elm tree behind Hotel de Ville, it's where people used to meet. There is a phrase in French that translates roughly to: If we run into each other, or if it's meant to be. It's "attendez-moi sur l'orme" or wait for me under the elm tree. And this is the tree! They've replanted one after the original was torn down in the Revolution (like everything else) so this is what it looks like today:

We also went to the Musée Carnavalet for a little while. My favorite exhibit is the room with all of the signs from the buildings in the Middle Ages. They didn't have street numbers, so to tell someone where you lived you would describe the sign, and then which street. That's why some streets are still named "the cat who fishes" or "the goose who laughs".

We also got millefeuilles in class today! It's a pastry with a million layers and a type of custard in between, really good but super rich. Our theme in class this week is "Paris in layers" talking about how much history is built on top of other eras in Paris, so it was a perfect analogy.

To go along with the "layers" theme, I am meeting some friends to go see the archaeological crypt under the square in front of Notre Dame tomorrow morning. It is supposed to be really cool, you can see the foundations of Roman houses all the way up to the Renaissance, just stacked on top of each other. I'm really excited.

P.S. We are going to Normandy, the D-Day beaches, Le Man, Mont St Michel, and a couple of chateaux in the Loire Valley this weekend! I'm sooo excited :)