Exploring around the Pantheon

Sorry I haven't been blogging much this week! I got sick Sunday, and I'm still getting over it. Plus it's just been too darn cold here to stay outside for any prolonged periods of time! Mostly I just had a really sore throat, but that plus the cold equaled me holing up in my room for a few nights in a row.

But! Before I got sick I did have a little adventure. This past Saturday, Feb 4th, Lauren and I went up to the area around where the Pantheon is to poke around a little. We didn't end up going in the Pantheon because it was 8,50 Euros and we didn't have that much on us, but we did see the outside, which is beautiful.

Behind it and to the side a little bit, we also found a beautiful little church called Église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont. (I was standing in front of the church when I took the picture directly above this paragraph). In my opinion, it was the most beautiful church I've seen yet! (Not including the Notre Dame, you can't really compare that with anything). The details were amazing! And it had a huge organ in the wall! And the sun coming through all of the stain glass windows was gorgeous! It's where Saint Genevieve's tomb and relics are, and apparently, she was a big deal. I think I remember reading that she was a patroness of Paris. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

This is the area dedicated to St. Genvieve

Bateaux Mouches

Thursday night, February 2nd, the Central College group went on a boat ride on the Seine! It was pretty chilly, but I'm proud to say I stayed on the roof until we turned around and started going back the same way again. At that point I went down so I could try to feel my toes and fingers. But it was a really pretty ride and I got some good pictures! I may go again when it's warmer, but during the day this time.

I'm pretty sure this is the Musee D'Orsay

Pretty sure this is the Louvre

Of course, the Notre Dame

This is one of the bridges where two people in love bring pad locks and lock them onto the bridge and throw them into the river to show their love! Aw!

Cool picture of boat and the back of Notre Dame as we dive away.

Skating on the Eiffel Tower

Tuesday, January 31st was Diana's birthday - she's one of the other girls from the Central Study Abroad group. Her room mate wanted to take her to skate on the Eiffel Tower, so we all went half way up to the second floor, walked around a bit, and then walked down to the first level where the little skating rink was. It was really cool to see the city at night. Soon I'll want to go all the way to the top. I also kind of want to go again during the day, if not all the way to the top.

The tower sparkled while we were under it waiting for the rest of the group. I like it best when it's sparkly!

View from deck on the second level

View of skating rink from above while I was taking the stairs down from the second level

Pili and Anna

Me and mini Eiffel Tower, on the real Eiffel Tower

Friday, February 3rd, the group went to see the and Opera at the Opera Bastille. In English it's The Queen of Spades and it was by Tchaikovsky (The guy who wrote the Nutcracker). It was a really cool experience and the opera was in Russian, which I thought was awesome as well. The best part was that they showed the french translation above the stage. English would have been best obviously, but I could get the basics that way. We sat in the very last few rows, which I liked because it let me see the whole theater well without turning around a lot like an idiot. 

Opera Bastille

The view from my seat