Yesterday and today have been pretty jam packed with awesome stuff! Yesterday we visited the Museum of the Middle Ages in the morning, that had an unbelievable array of Medieval works as well as the Roman baths attached. I got to see the famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, which, albeit only after being explained, were fascinating! The whole museum is a Medieval house that was the Paris townhouse for the Abbots of the famous church, Cluny, who were closely associated with the Papacy. The building itself was possibly even more interesting to me. I was just in awe by it. Honestly, think Beauty and the Beast architecture mixed with Snow White architecture, mixed with Hunchback of Notre Dame architecture and you have the house the Museum is in. Haha, everything I see here makes me want to be an artist for Disney! It's amazing how sophisticated the animation and research put in is and how much we just take it for granted in the final presentation.
After the Middle Ages Museum we got a private tour of the Sorbonne. Although our guide did not speak English, and our professor attempted to translate for us, the tour was really cool. We were able to see all the spaces usually reserved for high-profile affairs and a lecture hall that is now used for important meetings and press conferences and such. We also got a long history of the University and it made me think that maybe the U.S. needs a lesson from France in valuing education. I think it made all of us wish we were studying there! Even the part of the building reserved for classes and students today is a big courtyard from the 17th century. How amazing!

Today was a bit shorter in terms of class time than yesterday. We didn't start until later because our appointment with the museum director today wasn't until the afternoon. I had planned on doing something on my own this morning (my roommates got in at 3 in the morning, so I figured they would be sleeping for quite a while) but I only woke up around 10! I guess the jet lag, combined with lack of sleep all week finally caught up to me! The museum was a good start to the the day, though. It was the Museum of French Architecture and was just seriously unbelievable. Most of the collection consists of casts of famous Medieval monuments, namely churches, and their facades or statues. There are also models of important French buildings from the Renaissance until this year, and upstairs are many, many rooms of copies of Medieval murals. The castings of Romanesque and Gothic architecture were phenomenal. To be able to see it all together in one place was so much more powerful. Of course, my background knowledge and the fact that I love architecture might have helped my enjoyment. I noticed others with glazed-over eyes through most of the tour.

After the museum, which is on the hill overlooking the Eiffel Tower, some of us got crepes and sat halfway down the hill, where we could watch performers, see the Eiffel Tower, and watch the enormous television screen that is showing all the word cup games. The spirit around Paris because of the World Cup is tremendous! You see people with jerseys, hats, flags, face paint, or anything all over the place! On the Metro this morning, a woman in a business suit with a briefcase had a Germany flag painted on her cheek. After a lovely afternoon on the grass and the steps, we decided the week was over and we all have retired for the night. We all ate dinner on our own, since many people had come to realize what dinner and lunch and breakfast out can cost in a week. My roommates are out "clubbing" for tonight again.

Tomorrow, I might take a train to Aachen, Germany, and see the cathedral and historic district there. Either that or I'll stay in Paris and see more of what won't be covered in class. I will have four more weeks of class and a week and a half after that to see Paris though! I supposed it depends on how easy it will be find a hotel and a train...still, I love that I have the option to jet over to Germany for the weekend. Europe is so amazing!

Sorry for the lack of real photos recently. Finally got my camera charger and will be shooting again starting tomorrow! In the mean time, I've been sketching as much as possible.  Both of these aren't finished yet, but they at least show what I've been seeing...