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I really love it here. It's getting warmer and I'm getting over my sickness. Unfortanitly it got so back that I had to start my antibiotics but now I'm feeling so much better and hopefully will be all better by Friday and Berlin as I will be staying in a house with a brand new baby.
I really wish that this computer allowed me to hook up my camera so I could bombard you with the 254 pictures I've already taken but I guess I will just have to be descriptive instead.
On Saturday we took the metro into Paris and headed up to Notre Dame. Obvsiouly it was gorgeous and breathtaking but I hadn't really realized that we were in Paris until I was standing at the very top (after about 300 winding stairs) and loooking out over the huge and crowded city. Looking at the gargoyals and thinking about how old the structure was and how many little kids had been scared by those gargoyels and how many people have studied them before was so humbling.
After that Jac wasn't feeling very well so we poped on one of those double decker buses that heads around the city and after getting over the feeling of 'oh my god I'm such a stupid tourist' it was actually a pretty great thing to do. It was realaxing and a super easy way to at least get a glance at all the major sites so at least we can claim that we've seen them. Jac and Tom headed home after that and Maggie and I hit the streets doing window shopping and just wandering around the Latin Quater. We actually walked off a random street and hit this incredibly cute tiny street in a back alley and took a whole bunch of 'artistic' pictures.
Yesterday we hit Versailles, but we did it in the best way possible. Thanks to my mother and father we had a personal tour guide that picked us up, took us through Paris and gave us some more history then took us to Versailles. He knew a great place to park so we walked up through the gardens and were there as the music started and the fountains went off. Versailles is so unbelievably grandious! It was tiring just to walk the grounds, I can't imagine living there! Although I'm getting used to everything being over the top and gilded, this is France overall. Then Henri took us up to the palace and knew where the lines would be short for both the bathrooms and the tickets to get inside. Wandering through was amazing and shocking but the best part was that instead of having to walk all the way back down the grounds to the car, Henri picked us up! He didn't go inside, instead went and got the car and was right outside the palace.
Today he came and picked us up again and took us to the little country town where Van Gough did a lot of his paintings. There is a precious chataue there that took my breath awaya and I could have stayed all day just laying on the lawn and looking at it. INside there was this great museum type thing of Impressionist art (it's hard to expalin) which was just fantastic. We had lunch at a little cafe where we practically sat on the street and I felt so French!
THere are little spots all over the town with a poster of Vsan goghs painting in front of the actual thing that he painted. It was like going back in time, being able to stand where he stood and see his inspiration for his work. We then went up to the graveyard where he was buried and while seeing his grave was a highlight I had a better time just walking around the rest iof the cemetary. It was so little and some of the graves were so old. THere were also three grave for a pilot and 2 gunners of the RAF that were shot down nearby in 44. They were 20,22, and 34. I couldn't stop staring at their graves and seeing their place in this little old French towns graveyard.
Henri then dropped us off in the shopping district and we said goodbye to him. He was the best bargain in the whole world! I reccommend him to anyone going to France (he lives in Normandy so is an expert on all of France) and will give his information to anyone who asks.
So now I'm tired and overwhlemed by all the great things I've seen. I love Paris but I think I like the French countryside even more. I felt totally comfortable and at home out there in the tiny French town. I really felt like I could stay there forever.
I hope things at home are great and once again sorry for the horrible spelling and typing mistakes.
Much Love!
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Nyla
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I feel like I'm there!
You are so great at describing what you are seeing. I do feel like I'm right there with you. I am so glad that you had the opportunity to drive up in the country. I have heard so many wonderful things about that area. It is a wierd feeling to be in a place with sooo much awesome history, I'm proud of you for taking the time to lay in the grass and soak it all up.