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OMG!!!!! I'm in Paris!!! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this or how excited I am!! Sorry for all the exclamation points, but I had 3 espressos and four twix bars this morning. I left Lithuania at six o'clock last night and I can"t sleep on planes to save my life. I didnt even stop for a nap before I got started. And start I did, at the Louvre! the Louvre was insanely amazing. You could practically feel the culture rolling off the place, and I still can't believe that I saw the Mona Lisa! At this point, most people would say ssomething about how the Mona Lisa was beautiful or mysterious or something, but it really isnt any of those things, it's just really small. However, the rest of the museum was borderline magical. There is a big room in the middle of the museum called the Rotunde Goujan. It is the room that leads to everywhere in the museum, like a guide, but even that room had an articulate beauty to it. I spent most of my time in the Egyptian wing, which, let me tell you, is AMAZING! It starts in a smaller room called the Crypt of the Sphinx which branches out into three staircases leading to different places in that wing. It also has a small version of the Sphynx, called the Great Sphynx of Tanis. Now I had to decide which staircase to go down. I felt like I was in a game show trying to choose which door would give me the greatest prize, except I knew that each staircase led to some of the greatest treasures in history. Finally, I descended at the first staircase, to the left of the Sphynx. I was right, this staircase showed beautiful treasuresthe likes of which I'd never seen, until, of course, the next staircase. We're talking about the first set though so let's continue. The first room I saw was The Nile. It was not as much beautiful as, for lack of a better word, just really cool. I saw five model boats (made in ancient egypt) and a real stone tablet depicting a River scene. There were also a lot of cute little statuettes of Egyptian gods and godesses. Past the Nile room was a room full of staffs and stone tablets that were inscribed with hieroglyphs. They were definitely old looking, but they looked fairly well preserved (meaning not dust.) My next room was about the daily life of Egyptians. A lot of an Egyptian's life was devoted to religion, there were many artifacts and statues of gods and godesses. After that, I went back to the Crypt of the Sphynx but the right staircase was blocked off and it turned out that the center one led to a different wing. Since I had a little time, I decided to take that one. It led into a large room with wood flooring and a long dock-like platform leading into more rooms. The big room had a few interesting artifacts, but the platform seemed more interesting so I took off down the crowded walkway like a racehorse out of the gates. Next thing I knew, I was looking at the cieling. I had run into a stone wall! Nothing but my pride was hurt too badly so ignoring the dirty looks from the other patrons I got up, shook myself off and continued down the walkway around the turn I hadn't seen coming. Finally, I got to a corridor that led back to the Rotunde Goujon. I spent the rest of my visit in the Remains of the Louvre's Moat. It showed the history of the Louvre from the time of Napolean to the present. All to soon, it was time to go. When I left, I was surprised to find that it was already lunch time! Remember in Lithuania when I said that my lunch was delicious? Well, in France, the word delicious feels totally inadequate for any meal. It was literally the best food that I've ever tasted! And it was some pretty interesting food too. I finally tried Les cuisses de grenoulles or frog legs! Guesss what? It is heavenly! It actually sort of tastes like grilled chicken with a lot of really great flavorful seasonings added to it. I had some of the most insanely magnificent bread ever with almost every kind of cheese imaginable. Even the Gouda, my favorite cheese, was better on a loaf of freshly baked french bread. I finished my meal with something called Boef Tarte, this is like a mound of raw meat that the chef mixed right by my table with a bunch of spices and stuff. When I tried it, I think I had an aneurism. It was delicious! And that wasn't even the best part of the meal. that honor goes to dessert. I got the Croissant aú Chocolaté, or chocolate croissant. It wasn't like the cold storebought version either, it was a real, freshly baked croissant filled to the brim with fully melted chocolate and thickly coated with sweet frosting on every surface avalable. It was literally the best dessert I've ever had! Anyway, after lunch, I took a short trip out to Provence. Although its official name is Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azure (quite a bit more of a mouthful.) I spent my Provence adventure parusing markets for souvenirs and snacks. The first market I tried was the port of Marsielles, which is actually the secondlargest city in france. Here, there are market stalls in the streets and there is a pedestrian friendly town area called Rue St-Feereol. I got some great gifts for all my friens and family back home and some cool french crackers that i couldn't wait to try. As I left my first market, I reminded myself to come back here for dinner. I had a feelng that a steaming bowl of Bouillabaisse would feel great after a lng day of market shopping. The second(and final) market I stopped at was Isle sur la Sorgue. Here, I sampled freshly picked walnuts, oils, olives and bread. oh, and don't even get me started on the men cutting triangles of cheese from spinning circular wheels. I bought three large triangles of cheeses, two jars of olives and almost a dozen different fruits that I've never heard of. I even bought a bag of walnuts. I don't even like walnuts! Or at least I didn't before I tried the freshly picked walnuts of Isle sur la Sorgue. The Isle, as it is affectionately known, is definitely my favorite market in the world. Not only because of the all natural, artisian grown food, but the market just feels cultural. You know, old, real, just...French. It's beautiful! After i finished my shopping, I went back to Rue St-Feereol for a bowl of the seafood soup called boullabaisse. It was wonderful. I got a big bowl bwcause it was dinnertime and the seafood flavors really tasted fresh! It was the perfect end to one of the best days of my life, and one that I was sure to remember. But it wasn't over yet. I took a train back to Paris and even though it was already dark when I got back, I headed to the Eiffel Tower. What can I say? I love a good ending. As I road the elevator to the top I couldn't help bouncing a little. I was about to see the lights of France from the best vantage point in Paris. Suddenly, we were there. I stepped out of the elevator in awe. I rushed to the side of the observatin deck and peered over as if I wasn't sure what I was going to see. And I saw the lights of Paris twinkling back at me. Suddenly, the entire day became real. I just spent a day in France. And now I'm on the top of the Eiffel Tower! As i stared out at the lights, i felt an overwhelmiing sense of gratitude. I felt grateful for the basket of food in my arms, for the new knowledge I had about paintings and statues, and mostly for the view spreading out before my eyes. I also felt a little excited. I was going to Poland in the morning after all.
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