The first of which was to see Les Invalides. Les Invalides was built as a hospital for veterans, and now serves three main functions. Part of the enormous compound is still a hospital, but it also houses a military museum and the tomb of Napoleon I. It's a beautiful and striking building - I had seen it from the outside many times but never gone in. So Kaellen and I went to check it out last Friday! The building itself is as beautiful inside as it is outside - and Napoleon's tomb was very impressive! The military history museum was very interesting...but there was so much to see and to read that our museum stamina gave out long before we were really done. In any case, an enjoyable experience. I really liked seeing the different uniforms that soldiers from different countries wore during various wars and military campaigns.
^ The dome of Les Invalides - this is the church part with Napoleon's tomb
Another site on my list was the Musée Rodin - an outiside/inside garden museum featuring the works of French sculpter Auguste Rodin. He revolutionized sculpture back when all of the "masters" based their works completely off of the Greek and Roman sculpture of antiquity. His sculptures, on the other hand, are mostly bronze rather than the classic marble and are of real non-idealized people showing real emotion - they really draw you in! I had been wanting to go check it out for a while based on a recommendation from a friend, and when a friend Estefany from school said she was thinking of going, we decided to go together! I loved the outdoor gardens with the statues in them, but also found the indoor museum fascinating with its exhibits showing the process Rodin went through and many of his pre-sculpture sculpture studies in plaster and clay. My favorite part of all was definitely the rose gardens - I think overall I took a lot more pictures of flowers than of the actual sculptures!
While I was on a roll with my museums, I decided to use my day off yesterday to check out the Musée Carnavalet - a museum about the history of Paris. It was recommended to me by my cousin Megan who also studied in paris for a semester, so I decided to check it out. On top of being free, it was in a beautiful historic building with lovely gardens and a real variety of exhibits. The museum tracks the history of Paris from prehistoric times, to the Gallo-Roman settlers, through the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and finally the 20th centuries. There was a whole lot to see, and unfortunately parts of the museum weren't open to visitors when I was there. I did see a lot though - and learned a great deal about the history of this amazing city. I particulary enjoyed just looking around at the different everyday items from the past that were saved and preserved - like a window into a different century! My favorite (besides the gardens) was the sign gallery, which featured old shop signs with descriptive pictures, necessary because most of the clientele of the time was illiterate.
Finally, my most recent adventure was the promised "Paris by night" boat trip with my host mom Madame Alphonse, her daughter Marjorie, and Adam (the other student living with us). We took a boat cruise on the Seine with the Vedettes de Pont Neuf boat company - what an amazing view! Paris is a beautiful city during the day, but it's a whole different kind of beautiful at night! And after our boat cruise, we came back to the apartment and had champagne (Adam's first ever!) to celebrate Madame Alphonse's birthday. What a wonderful night! That's the last of my adventures for now - but I will keep posting updates as I work to cross other things off my Paris List!
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