Oui, Paris

Paris it is.  You’re all getting good at this!

I have seen the Eiffel Tower when it sparkled.  (By the way, if you’re visiting, the Eiffel Tower sparkles every hour on the hour and for ten minutes afterwards.  It’s pretty sweet.) 

Ah, but that’s not all:  I’ve been in the tower when it sparkled.  Twice.  Oh yeah.  Because we went up this evening to the very top!  And it was awesome.  Of course, I took pictures–but what are pictures?  I mean, before I’d been here, le tour eiffel actually held no special place in my mind except as a major landmark in Paris.  But now that I have seen it for myself, it is really quite exquisite.  And even better is to have been to its summit, because from now on when I see it in pictures, or movies, or animation (it’s in Beauty and the Beast; watch and see if you can spot it!), I’ll be able to recall the time that I went to the very top and looked down over Paris that one night…

I’m not alone this trip–as if I ever have been!  No, this time I had the good fortune to know someone who speaks far better French than I do, and if it weren’t for him I’d be quite lost, I’m afraid.  It’s good to know people who are studying abroad not far from where you are! 

Speaking of which, I hear that congratulations are in order for three of my UNC Charlotte pals:  Caitlin, Jennifer, and Bradley.  Boy, oh boy, are you guys gonna have fun!  I just wish you’d come to your senses about a semester sooner.    C’est la vie.  (Ooh-la-la, that’s French!)

Of course, le tour eiffel (Eiffel Tower) is not the only thing we’ve done these past couple of days; we’ve seen the Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame (climbed the steps in that one to the top to visit the gargoyles!), Moulin Rouge (no, we didn’t go inside), and–oh, yeah, the Louvre.

The Louvre is an absolutely huge museum.  Full of art, mostly, from France and Italy and Spain and the Netherlands and Germany and Holland and Flanders and ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and all–and most of it’s in French.  So I couldn’t read most of the captions, which really was a blessing in disguise, for we spent over four hours there even without the luxury of reading.  But we saw everything we wished to see–including the Mona Lisa (yes, the real one), the Venus de Milo, and the Nike of Samothrace.  (That art history class I had first semester was a great help in this place!)  And, you know what?  I feel about ten times smarter from having just walked around it–even without reading a single caption.  Amazing how that works, you know?

But I am still just an American in Paris.  Davidson, good luck against Kansas tonight.  You’re behind 53 to 56 right now, but I trust that you’ll come back in the next four-and-a-half minutes.  Bon chance!