Chateaus, St. Denis, and the American Dream

Hey guys,

I really appreciate all of the nice comments I've been getting. I aim to please, so I hope to keep you entertained.

Yesterday we went to two chateaus in the Loire Valley, Amboise and Chenonceau. It was quite a long day. Amboise was the home of Frances I and his wife. It was pretty cool, though it is a fifth of the size it once was. The best thing about it is that it is where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last days. A couple of us and Dr. Nygren walked down to the house that Leonardo recieved from the king in exchange for his conversation. Pretty great exchange I think! I gave Adriana a bandaid because her shoe was giving her a blister, and I asked for a chateau in return. Alas, no go. Leonardo is also buried in the queen's chapel there. We saw his tomb and it was pretty awesome. He was a cool guy.

Then we took a bus ride to Chenonceau. This chateau was given by Henri II to his mistress Diane de Poitiers. It is notable because it is built on top of the river there, and the water flows under it. Pull up a picture on the web, it is a cool site. Then when the king died, his wife Catherine de Medicis took it from the mistress and gave the mistress a crappy old castle elsewhere. In the Diane de Poitiers room there is a huge portrait of Catherine. What a scandalous time they lived in.

Then there was the three and a half hour bus ride back, which felt like eternity. I was really tired at this point and acting kind of loopy, which made our conversations on the way back memorable. Or not. I think I drove my friend Sean crazy, but hey, that's what I do.

So then when we finally got back Isabel, Mackenzie, Tyler and Jonathan and I headed over to Isabel's. This was not before Tyler and I's epic trip to Pizza Hut.

Not, understand the frame of mind I'm in. I'm starving. Exhausted. Loopy. Emotionally taxed. And in this state of mind, there is only one thing that will do. Greasy, buttery, American pizza.

So we head over there, and I order the Margerita pizza, which is basically just cheese. Now here, they don't have sizes, they just say pizza for one person, or two people. Now, I've been here long enough to not be fooled by this one person business. This is French one person we're talking about. So I say, hell no, and go for the two person.

This was a good idea, or bad idea, depending on what you think about the matter. The pizza was tiny! Even for a two person! It was like an American small. Then we got the large bottle of pepsi which is only a one liter. What's up with this?! So we go to Isabel's, saying things like, well if we don't finish it the others can. I think you can guess what happened. I, inevitably, eat the whole thing. And between Tyler and I we finish this one liter. What do these French expect? We're Americans. God Bless America indeed. This was our own little celebration of the Fourth of July. And then I go home, and feel sick for the rest of the night and remember why I don't eat Pizza Hut in America. So bad, yet so good.

Today was our trip to St. Denis. This was an optional excursion that Dr. Nygren planned. Originally, about 10 people had planned to go, but by today only 4 people actually went. It's times like this I feel depressed with some of the people in our program. I love them and everything, but I don't feel like a lot of them are really taking advantage of everything. I will attempt to see everything and do everything here even if it kills me. Which it may, considering how sick everyone is getting. Anyways, St. Denis is really amazing. It is where all of the kings and queens of France are buried. It is like France's Westminster Abbey minus the bazillions of tourists and people buried in every nook and cranny.

The great thing I found about it is that they have these elaborate tombs carved out everywhere where they say so and so or so and so is buried, then we go down to the crypt, and Dr. Nygren says this is the ossuary, and during the Revolution they dug up all of the kings from their tombs and threw them in a garbage dump. Then after the Revolution, they went back and got all the bones, but they couldn't figure out who they belonged to, so they put them in the ossuary. So basically all of the fancy tombs up top are empty. What a let down. All of the actual bones are buried downstairs behind these walls in a tiny room.

We also saw Marie Antionette's tomb which was cool, and the only one with flowers on it. So all in all, it was a pretty interesting trip.

Oh, and food related, I've discovered my new favorite pastry in Paris. It's a croissant amande, which is like an uncooked, doughy, pastry with almonds and powdered sugar on top, and sometimes chocolate in the middle. Delicious. Thanks to Adriana for introducing me to it.

A warm welcome to new readers of the blog. Please leave comments/questions, and I will do my best to respond.
Love, Em