Last Friday in Paris

Yesterday was my last Friday in Paris.  Talk about depressing.  Of course, the day was actually so busy I didn't have much time to be sad that my trip was almost over.  Class started at the ungodly hour of 8:30am, meaning I had to be up by 7:30am.  And of course it was for French lit, my least favorite class.  After suffering and sleeping through the required 75 minute class we had a quick meeting (where we got a hundred extra euros!) then got on the metro to go to Saint Denis, a suburb just north of Paris.

The first thing we did when we arrived was visit the Basilica of Saint-Denis, sometimes referred to as the Royal Necropolis of France because so many of the French kings and Queens are buried there.

The church itself was definitely very lovely with the requisite stained glass, high arched nave, and large rose window, but the really interesting thing about the basilica was definitely all the old tombs, including those of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

The first king of France (Clovis I) was also located there, as was Henry II and Catherine de Medicis, Louis XIV, Pepin le Bref, Charles Martel, and Francois I among many others.  The creepiest part of it all was in the crypts below the basilica.  There were more graves down there, but also the only part of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's son that could be found: his heart.

There were also a lot of super creepy paintings and pictures of Saint Denis.  I guess he was beheaded or something because in all of them he's holding his bleeding head in his arms.  Yuck.

After we left the basilica we went to the nearby market, which is one of the best in the city.  It's huge with every type of produce, meat, cheese, bread, clothing, accessory, furniture, and home good imaginable.  However it was also a bit more intimidating than the markets in the city because it's in the suburbs, meaning it draws a much more ethnic crowd.  I didn't see very many european people there that day.  Lots of women in burkhas, men in long robes and turbans, Indian women in saris, etc.  It was interesting, but I also got the feeling that it could get kind of dicey.

When we left Saint Denis, a group of us headed straight to our next outing at the Musée d'Orsay.  Once we got nearby we stopped to get lunch at a café where I had an espresso and a delicious salad with artichokes and avocado.

At the Musée d'Orsay we looked at all the Art Nouveau furniture and goods to get a better feel for the time period.  I didn't get to stay that long however because one of my roommates had gone back to our room after the outing to Saint-Denis and while there she couldn't open our door.  Neither could the women in housekeeping.  And so if we didn't report to the repairman about it by 5pm, when he was leaving for vacation, we wouldn't be getting into our room anytime soon.  So around 3pm we left the Musée d'Orsay early and caught a bus back to the Foyer to talk to the repairman.  Luckily our door got fixed and we didn't need to worry.


I spent the afternoon napping and recuperating from my early morning then went out for a late dinner at a nearby café with some of the girls in my group.  I got a wonderful bowl of french onion soup, a glass of white wine, and a caramel mousse for dessert.

After dinner we headed to the Champs de Mars, stopping to buy champagne along the way.  We sat in front of the Eiffel Tower for about two hours then, laughing, talking, taking pictures, and drinking champagne.

Eventually we caught the metro back to the Foyer just before 1:30am, when it closes, and went to bed.  It had definitely been a long day.