Versailles and then some

Not many times in my life have I had the opportunity to say, "I think I'll hop on a 20 minute train and go see Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette's crib!" But that is exactly what we opted to do this sweltering Saturday...
And I am so glad we went, because Versailles was amazing! I had been there before, but last time I strolled the gardens and never entered the Palace. This time, I was able to greatly appreciate the beauty of the palace, in the extreme heat nonetheless! And it was truly beautiful, it was like my dream home, covered in gold! It felt so surreal to stand in what was once a single family's home, whose exorbitant wealth was built by the exploitation of an entire empire. Versailles was crawling with tourists, which put a damper on the visit, but in two months when they are all back home, Versailles will be all mine! With my L'histoire d'art student card I get into almost every museum in Paris for free! Which is such a relief after paying $18 this summer to see the Gertrude Stein exhibit at San Francisco's MOMA.  After an exhausting day in Versaille we decided to look for Mexican food that night... in Paris. Now, don't judge me! I absolutely LOVE french food, I love cheese, mussels, salads, everything! But sometimes, having grown up in California eating a diverse array of foods, you have cravings when you are thousands of miles from home. And it wasn't half bad! Don't get me wrong, it had absolutely nothing on Californian Mexican food, but we were cold (having just gotten drenched by a freak rain storm), and were extremely hungry and it was all together a fun experience!
Sunday I met up with Henriette in Montmartre, where went on a stroll to a cafe and drank chocolat and watched street performers play Bei Mir Bistu Shein! It was so crazy to see a pianist and cellist in the middle of a little square in Paris, but the fact that they were playing yiddish music made it all the more exciting! I felt so parisian sitting in the little artist community, sipping chocolat chaud and watching the tourists walk by. But then we got rained on... Leave it to Paris to have such an abrupt switch in weather!
Today our french class had an excursion to L'Opera Garnier which is the Paris opera house which inspired the novel The Phantom of The Opera. The opera house was gorgeous! One of the building's foyers was modeled after Versaille's hall of mirrors, and was just stunning, unfortunately, there was a rehearsal going on so we were unable to see inside the actual theatre, which is just an excuse for me to go to the Opera...
Love