Gold all on my gates, Gold all on my clock!

I awoke today feeling so much better than the day before! I think I am starting to get on the Paris sleep schedule finally! I ate a croissant with Nutella, got changed for the day, and met with everyone down stairs. By now it was getting a lot easier to figure out the metro because it was our main transportation so far!
So I blogged earlier about how people move around quickly, when I talked about the line out side of Notre Dame but I just want to shed some light on what exactly I am talking about! THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE SPEED WALK! In the United States we move around at our own leisurely pace but when we were moving around in the streets, or the metro people can be seen running from place to place or even speed walking (walking with a purpose) and if you are being slow they will move around you or they will

move through you! This brings me to my next topic that is about space. To the French there really is no personal space, you take part in this practically everywhere! On the metro you squish together until there is no room left, in the streets you could be standing where you and another person are touching and it is not seen as weird or invasive. Two words I used the most during the past few days are "Pardon" (normally used when I needed to get through) and "Merci" which I used after I got by.

Part Two

We connected to different lines and then got on a train that took us to the area where the Palace of Versailles is! As we got off of the train we started to walk with the Palace in our sight the whole time! All that I can say is the royals knew how to live! There was gold everywhere, it lined roof of the house, and the clock that stood center! After entering the main gate the golden gates that stood before the Palace were approachable but they paled in comparison to the interior of the Palace! It was amazing! The inside had been modernized in areas for things like security check, etc. However when we approached the chambers and the area where the organ was I was in awe! The house was crafted in the most bold, yet elegant way, which is odd because I did not think that something could be both! The ceilings were covered in art as were the walls, cabinets, and the fireplaces. Another amazing area was the garden that was very cared for! all of the bushes were cut to the same shape, and set symmetrically across from their equal! The garden was lovely, but as time went on we got very hungry!

We walked a good way's before finally settling down at a restaurant that was local. The waitress was a sweet older woman who did not understand much of our English so we had to gesture towards the menu a few times so that she knew what we were ordering! I chose a Tarte pie which reminded me of a Lemon Meringue pie, and then I got an order of fries! It was not my healthiest choice but I was feeling dessert for some reason!

Part 3
Later in the day we went on a walk to meet our guide Mirka and take a trip on the Seine (a long river that runs 777 kilometers through Paris) by boat of course. Before we went there though we did a little bit of walking that included us stopping at a café. Since I have never been to Paris before I had no clue about this but let me tell you incase you ever visit, water is not free. We made plans to eat later that night so I did not want to eat too much food right then so I decided to sit with the majority of the class while they ate. Well when the check came rolling around there was a charge

for two huge bottles of water. 1. It was tap water that they put into a huge glass bottle that you pour and share with everyone else at the table.
2. I only drank one glass.
but when the bill came around I paid twenty euros for the bottles.
So, yes you could say that I was more than a little frustrated but apparently it was something I should have known coming into the trip so it was my own fault I learned the hard way.
After we paid the bill we walked over to where our river cruise began which happened to be beside the gorgeous Eiffel Tower. We went on the cruise that included a guide with the option of listening to French or English. On our cruise we saw a few things, one being the view of Paris from the Seine, a little bit of graffiti here and there, but my favorite was when the Eiffel Tower lit up! Also there was a couple taking pictures in their wedding attire beside the Seine and can I just tell you it was soooooo romantic! I would kill for that one day! As our river cruise came to an end we got off right beside the Eiffel Tower which was set to start sparkling not long after we arrived. I have probably already said this but if not, it sparkles on the hour for five minutes for a select amount of hours each night and can be see all over Paris! I only knew it sparkled though because of the VS Christmas commercial (what a bunch of lucky girls) that came out this past year!
We had all split up for dinner that night and to have some free time, so of course food is one of the many activities that we pursued that night. We ate Gyros which we were pronouncing wrong because the French pronounce them differently. They were chicken gyros that came with tzatziki sause, fries and a soda for only seven euros! I was so excited and the food was so good especially because I was starving! A very comforting thing that I noticed about the chef in this restaurant was that he was very friendly with us! He knew we were American and even though he knew that we did not no much French he did not care or get upset over it as I had seen many do earlier that week. He even went as far as to hug one of the girls with us and try to talk to us for a little bit (which was translated by the man at the table behind us) which was nice. It just so happened that this strip that we were eating on had many bars and tons of night life opportunities but we decided to hold off until another night.