Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Luxembourg Gardens, Cluny, Sainte Chapelle



On day four, we began the morning with a literary walk. With no rain in the forecast, it was the perfect day for such an event. We found the “Rue de Fleurus,” which we read about many times in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, where Gertrude Stein and Alice lived together. It was really cool because it was a little reminder of one of the major reasons that we took the trip: to continue the experience of the expatriate writers and understand the pieces of wisdom that they conveyed in their stories. 

                We continued on to the Luxembourg gardens which are definitely not to be missed. There was a large fountain area with trails among the hedges and those big, perfectly square trees all lined up along a green, grassy area. Also, the gardens are kind of nestled away in a small neighborhood, as most things are in Paris, and it was very quiet and peaceful and was a great way to spend a warm morning. 


                After this, we did some more walking, mostly along Saint Germain, which is very busy and is a popular street in Paris. We split up for lunch and I enjoyed a wonderful crepe with eggs, cheese, and ham. Meeting back up, we explored the Musee de Cluny, which has a lot of medieval exhibits. It was pretty interesting, but I feel especially sorry for any museum that has to follow the Louvre.  We also went to the Sainte Chapelle, which is large cathedral with supposedly some of the oldest stained glass in Paris. The inside was absolutely beautiful, and the upstairs was even more amazing, with stained glass surrounding the entire area.
                As the group split up, Mason and I did some shopping and exploring around the Notre Dame area. Later, we met up with some others at the Irish pub and had a good time eating and listening to the live music (and maybe singing along a little).


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