Sunday June 17

Les Invalides

Sunday began later than normal with the group meeting up at noon. Our day began with the group stopping at a local market to grab lunch. The market was slightly reminiscent of a farmers’ market, the street lined with various venders and places to eat. After a tasty meal of duck with noodles, I was ready to see more of Paris. Our second stop of the afternoon was Les Invalides, a handful of buildings that originally acted as a hospital for French war veterans. We visited two of the buildings in the complex, one that housed the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte and the other housing the French military museum. Much like his ego, Napoleon’s sarcophagus was large and very extravagant. Following the tomb we moved on to the military museum. We didn’t have too much time to stop at the museum so I immediately made my way to the World War I & II exhibit. It was interesting to see the wars through France’s perspective, more specifically their view of the invasion of France and its causes. After our stop at Les Invalides we made our way to Musee Rodin.

The Musee Rodin is a museum dedicated to the great sculptor Auguste Rodin. I was on a hot streak prior to the Musee Rodin, thoroughly enjoying the past three museums we had visited. While I didn’t dislike the Musee Rodin by any means, I wasn’t nearly as captivated by the pieces in the museum as I had been by the last two. The museum is most famous for housing the original “The Thinker,” a sculpture of a man in deep thought. The Musee Rodin is actually fairly small so we made quick work of checking out the museum and moving on to our next destination.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Following a day of museum tours, all of the group members and I were excited when we found out that we would be going to the top of the Eiffel Tower to end the day. Since Sunday was the prettiest day weather-wise in a few days in Paris, we were far from the only group with the idea to go to the top. After waiting in line for about an hour we grabbed our tickets and ascended the stairs to the first viewing platform. This task was actually fairly nerve-wracking for me because I could see the land below me as I made my way to the platform, allowing me to realize just how high I actually was climbing. However, with a higher than normal heart rate, I made it to the first platform where we waited in line to take an elevator to the actual top of the tower. We again waited in line for about an hour before we boarded the elevator to reach the top. Once we managed to reach the top I realized why the lines were so long. The view from the tower was magnificent, providing a perfect panoramic view of Paris. After a few minutes of snapping pictures and looking around, we made our way back down via the elevator and stairs once again. Needless to say, I was glad when my feet finally touched asphalt pavement as we reached the bottom.

After the group all made it down to the bottom, we separated for the day and went our separate ways to find dinner. A few of us went to a restaurant recommended to us by some other students who had eaten there the other night. After a great meal, I headed home for the night to get some rest.