I'm back to blogging in the morning again. Got up earlier just for my readers! :)
So yesterday we visited the Musee Carnavalet, which had a collection of artifacts (bits of facades, prints, furniture, etc.) that were from the destroyed buildings in the 19th century, when a man named Haussmann rebuilt and designed a lot of Paris. Unfortunately, some of the rooms we wanted to go see where closed that day for staffing reasons, but we did get to see some rooms that were recreated, which were pretty cool. The strange and odd objects were the most interesting to me. I saw this case that had old chess pieces and a tiny doll set (think size of your thumbnail) of soldiers and a drummer that said it was made for a Dauphin of France.
After the museum was my favorite part of the day, the covered passages for shopping and theatre. The first one is from 1799, and there are a bunch of them. The intimate shops and tiles floors are really quaint in that seen-it-in-an-impressionist-painting kind of way. I could have sat there all day and sketched if I could! I will most certainly go back before I leave. Along the way we also saw a famous old cafe that is still operating, and I think some of us have plans to go eat there one time. You could just feel the atmosphere that must have been there two hundred years ago when you walk through the passages!

Lastly we went to the Opera house. It was stunning! I love the colored marble, and grand staircases. We even were able to walk in and look at one of the private rooms and onto the stage. There was this hall that was gilded and had huge chandeliers that may have rivaled the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles for its sheer surprise. The whole place really made me want to own a ballgown to where there!

Anyways, that's all for yesterday. Today will be more of an Impressionism day, spanning from Courbet, Manet, and through to Monet. I'm quite excited! :)

Have a good day, all!