where we've been and where we're going

Sunday, July 29, 2007

A day off, then to see Napoleon

On the 23rd, Saturday, I took the day to stay in and work, which was well worth it. In the evening, I went out to see my cousin. She was in Paris with a group from her high school, and it seems like she loved every second of Paris. I met the group at Pont Neuf, where their boat cruise of the Seine dropped them off, and we walked to Saint-Michel, which is where the students (and the tourists) tend to go to hang out and enjoy nightlife. We went to a bar. The kind of bar which is almost a club, with a bit of a dancefloor and a DJ and a bouncer and the whole bit. After their tour guide did some finangling to get a group of 10 high schoolers past the bouncer, we were in. Maybe I'm getting old, but I was worried about the girls in the group, considering that not all of them had great French and there was a group of pompiers (firefighters) on the dance floor. With an eye on all of them, though, Dani and I had a great time dancing. It was tons of fun to see her, and I certainly love to dance as much as possible.

On Sunday, after sleeping in, Chris, David, Kate and I headed to Invalides, which was once a military hospital (and, we think, it still is). It now houses three military museums and includes the church where Napoleon is buried. His body is inside 6 concentric coffins, each made of a different (expensive) material. The outermost is wood. Additionally, the sarcophagus (I suppose that's what it is) is set in the cellar, but the first floor is cut out, so that an observer still must bow to Napoleon to see the grave. Apparently, Hitler thought this was a great idea when he saw it.

We also visited the World War museums, which were huge and extremely comprehensive, and the museum with miniature representations of the fortified cities of France. We skipped the museum of armor. Being in the WW museum made me wish I knew more military history, as I always do when I take classes as well. Scott would have enjoyed it more than me, because he would have appreciated it more. Note to self...more military history.

After a hot tea post-Invalides, we headed home. We took naps, then met up again (with Edgar this time) to head for dinner. We did a terrible job of locating a restaurant, since so many things are closed in Paris on Sunday, and ended up at a terrible little Italian place near our foyer. The food was provided by Sodexho. Always the optimist, Chris referred to it as the best restaurant in Paris, and it really didn't taste as horrible as I expected. However, both David and Chris got sick the next day. Go figure.

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