We got going a good bit earlier today than yesterday. I think we were out and about around 11. We started out heading to Notre Dame (a French last asked me for directions there, which I thought was funny, but at least I was able to help her) and stopped at a place to grab coffee and croissants when we got near it. The people there were kind of rude. The French, or at least Parisians, have a reputation for being rude to Americans, but aside from this and a girl who blamed a long trip to the bathroom on us (it was a Starbucks with a single unisex bathroom), I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
We all went into Notre Dame where I wandered off to take pictures and met up with everyone else back outside. Sunday mass was going on at the time, so it was cool to be there for a bit of that.
We went to Sainte-Chapelle after that, which was a chapel built to hold holy relics. I didn’t see any there, but I didn’t know the purpose of it until I read it later. Its main attraction is the insane amount of stained glass. As I read, what little wall there is is there essentially to just hold the windows in place.
From there we split up. Amanda and Sarah went to the Museé d’Orsay while Stanton, William and I went to the museum of the Middle Ages. I don’t remember what it’s actual name was. At any rate, it’s in the ruins of a castle right in the middle of a modern Parisian street, which I really liked. I think I read that it had actually been a Roman bath at one point. When we went in a girl working there told me no flash photography, hold my bag in the front and no taking pictures in the women’s restroom. Thinking back, maybe I misunderstood that part, but it seemed pretty clear.
The first part held a bunch of statues, many originally from Notre Dame. There were also crosses and other religious artifacts. Another room, probably my favorite, held a bunch of old Bibles along with other books and writings. I took one picture there, but apparently I wasn’t supposed to. The guy motioned at the camera and I held it up saying, “No flash,” but then he pointed at a sign and said, “No photo.” I apologized and I guess all was fine.
From there I saw a crypt that included the headstone of King Louis IV I think. Went upstairs and saw some more interesting old stuff including a throne, more writings, benches from a church and the like. My batteries finally died, but I had a safe of course. They happened to die right before I got to a room with some weaponry in it though, which was mainly what I wanted to see. There was only the one room though. It had two swords, two helmets, several shields and parts of armor.
We met back up with the girls then. Stan and Will napped on park chairs while the rest of us went to the Museé l’Orangerie. There was a good collection of Picasso and Matisse. Amanda and Sarah preferred those to the collection at the Louvre, but I prefer the older artwork, in part because of the age of it. That’s not to say I didn’t like l’Orangerie though. Amanda bought some postcards from l’Orangerie and d’Orsay since we couldn’t take pictures. Her intent is to put them all together in a frame or something. It’ll probably happen. Eventually.
We decided to make our way to the Eiffel Tower after that, which was a bit of a walk. A suggestion from Julie on Facebook said we should get some food and eat on the lawn there, so we went into a grocery store and bought water, wine, cheese, chocolate and some crackers (plus bread from another place) and sat in the shade of the park in view of the Eiffel Tower. Nine of us had much of a desire to wait to go up it, so we just chilled for a while, walked round it a bit and headed on back to the hotel. Amanda, will and Sarah took one cab and Stanton and I took another.
We hung out in the rooms for a little bit after that. Amanda took a shower. Will had gotten sunburned pretty bad, so he was done for the day. The rest of us went out to RESTAURANT, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in Paris. The building was built around 1610 I think, and it had served food since 1680 or so. There were wrought iron bars in the front dating from that time. None of us was terribly hungry, so we didn’t eat big meals. I had a salad with goat cheese (which I did devour, so maybe I was really hungry), the ladies got French onion soup. I can’t remember what Stanton had.
We got back and hung out in Stanton and Sarah’s room chatting and watching the Eiffel Tower’s lights.
The AC in our room didn’t seem to do much throughout this warm day, so right before bed I was messing with the thermostat and Amanda suggested that I out my hand in front if the blowing air, so I stood up on a chair and sure enough it was blowing, just not much and not very cold, though it was a little cool. As I went to step down though, I found out that the chair wasn’t very well balanced. I stepped off and the chair toppled over. I landed square on my right elbow and my right leg crashed down on the edge of the chair.
I was rolling around on the floor groaning, probably after dropping a “Son of a bitch!” Or some,thing similar. Amanda kept asking if I was okay and I kept saying I was. I might have snapped a little. I think I had my right leg up and was holding my right arm. I got up after a bit and took some aspirin. I’ve got a nice welt on my leg and the arm hurts when I move it too much, but I do have full motion, so I’m hoping I’m good to go tomorrow.
Zach Dotsey