Re-bonjour, Paris

This past weekend, I went to Paris with a group from the school I am attending here. We left Friday morning at 6:30am and came back Sunday at 10pm. It was about a 3 hour drive on the bus. We spent a lot of time touring around on the bus on Friday—so my pictures are not the best since they were taken on a moving bus—, and then later we stopped and visited the monuments.

One of the views from the bus

Then after touring around the bus, we toured around on the Seine in a  Bateau Mouche (which is just a tour boat).

We walked around the Luxembourg garden after stopping briefly at the hotel to check in. In the garden, we saw the model of the Statue of Liberty that you can see in New York, obviously, and next to it was a tree dedicated to those lost during 9/11.

Then we walked over by the Panthéon, but we could not go in since it was late and closed. Right down the street we got amazing ice cream from a place called Amorino (Amelia, you will have to try it! It was so good!)

Saturday, we stopped and visited a lot more: first we went to an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.

Augie Group in front of the Eiffel Tower

Then we briefly stopped at Notre Dame because we had to get to the Louvre at a specific time, although I did not understand that because we did not have a guide there, but we went and saw the major works: Winged Victory, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and many other Greek and Roman statues. We had a few hours there, which is not enough time to see a third of the art work in the museum. From there we walked through the Jardin de Tuileries and walked to Musée D'Orsay. There I saw some of my favorite Impressionist works, which I would share with you, but we are not allowed to take pictures in the museum. After spending an hour or two there we walked down the Champs Elysees and went under the Arc de Triomphe but not up it, since we didn't have the time. Plus we would have to pay for that ourselves.

Then some of us went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, which was very good and well priced. Afterwards, we stayed and watched the Eiffel Tower light up.

On Sunday, we first parked by les Invalides and walked to the Musée Rodin. This time I was able to see the beautiful gardens in full bloom, rather than in February when everything was dead and half of the garden was closed off. I also went inside of the museum this time instead of just walking around the garden. There were so many beautiful/interesting works that I had never seen or heard of before. I also saw Amelia's favorite tree!

After that, we parked by the Moulin Rouge and walked up to Sacre Cœur, although we made some stops along the way. For example, we saw this statue of a man stuck in the wall, which comes from a popular children's story, as well as, the first Cabaret and the only vineyard in all of Paris.

After that we left Paris.

Augie friends in Paris that I have become closer to because of this trip.

Now I am back in Dijon, continuing classes which are difficult at times, but I am learning a lot. Then after class, my "roommate" and I explore Dijon. Monday, we walked along the river which was beautiful. We found out that where we are living is very close to the center of town called Place Darcy which has a lot of shops and restaurants. I have gotten some homework, but it is not nearly as much or as time consuming as what I get at Augustana, so there is plenty of time to explore. I am really enjoying Dijon and finding new, exciting areas!