Les Promenades

A few days ago, there was a Metro Strike, or Grève, and we didn’t have school! A few of us decided that even though there was no public transportation, we wouldn’t be stopped! So, we ended up walking about 15 kilometers that day, walking to the Tuilleries Gardens, the Louvre, Rue du Rivoli, and back to our respective houses. I was so glad we did this because it was the first truly BEAUTIFUL day in Paris…the sun was shining, there was barely a cloud in the sky, it wasn’t too cold…it was perfect.

On my walk, I passed through Champs du Mars and past L’Ecole Militaire, the Tour Eiffel, and Invalides. I met Morgan and Kate at Concorde, and we walked together to the Palais Royale, where we had a little lunch. Then we walked around the area, and went to the Louvre, to see the basic must-sees (aka La Jaconde). It was exciting because ACCENT center gave us “Art History Student” cards, which is only half-true since we have only one Art-History class, but it got us into the museum free! It was also interesting because perhaps this was there before, but now, the Winged Victory statue is mounted on the original stone helm of the ship that it was on in Greece…It is so beautiful! I love the Louvre…it is so majestic and gorgeous; if I had been Louis XIV, I would have stayed put! (Then maybe there would have been a lot less debt from the creation of Versailles and a lot of other future problems would have been averted….who knows!)

Anyways, we then walked all the way back after some lovely cafés, and by the time we arrived home, we had walked several miles! Of course, Madame had prepared a lovely meal for me and I ate to my heart’s content, knowing I had probably burned off about five meals that day. I love this city…