Greetings, Peasants: A Day at Versailles

Versailles!!! 

The endless lines of peasants to get into the château

It got more elaborate and more ridiculous (in the best way) as we went along

Some of the Reasons Why I'm not Allowed to Own a Castle:

1. This would be an endless ballroom hallway full of ribbons and ziplines to hang-glide from

2. The windows would probably be trampolines

3. There would be free pony rides out front and a carousel

4. Sock slides would happen too frequently

5. I'd get lost, so I'd need a beanbag in the corner of every room so I could just sleep wherever I ended up at night

Lavandar chandelier

Angelina is known for serving the best, most decadent hot chocolate in Paris...I can confirm that this hot chocolate fits in with the rest of Versailles--it's insanely rich and overwhelming. It kind of felt like my teeth were going to fall out after drinking this tiny cup of pure melted chocolate syrup.

We were going to jump in the Hall of Mirrors, but that might've made a few chandeliers fall

I thought this was a pirate duck, but it's actually a children's book version of Louis XIV

Even the macarons are gold! 

Unicorns and a Dead Composer's Hand

Today was looong, but full of adventures and things I love (see title). First class took place at the Musée de Cluny.

Then, took a métro ride over to the 9th arrondissement for my next class. We did a walking tour in the freezing rain. The professor kept it interesting, though, and we kept sneaking into apartments and neighborhoods that we probably shouldn't have been in. She somehow knew what residential doors would be open and which abandoned courtyards we could stop in. We were mainly on the look out for Romantic architecture, but also saw Neo-Classical and Neo-Renaissance features. 

Square d'Orléans where Chopin, Taglioni, George Sand, and a bunch of other artists passed through or lived in these apartments at some point.

Chopin's hand and George Sand's arm (cast and molded)

Trinité

Tried to warm up and get some reading done in the salon/front room at school. Tonight was our first global orientations lecture. A professor spoke about the differences between the French republic and America's liberal government systems. 

After a long day at school, this creepy poster greeted me after I got off the métro. Charming neighborhood art.