Today we had class with Henri and the metro was having problems so we were late, but when we got there Henri asked us about our weekend and then suggested a coffee break where he treated us all so we didn't start class for a solid hour. None of us minded. Then we slowly got into the material and it was pretty interesting; we talked about local and global brands. I really like Henri because he keeps things interesting and relevant. He has an interest in getting to know us and wants us to have a great experience in Paris.
After class he asked if he could join us for lunch so we sat and talked. I got green beans, some beef skewer thing and chocolate pudding. It was alright. The beef was cooked kind of weird so a lot of the pieces didn't seem edible. Then we had to leave to meet someone from Accent outside school at 1:30 to go to Chartre. We got on the coach bus and I sat in the back in this VIP style couch. I put my ipod on and fell asleep for most of the hour and a half ride. We got out and had an hour to walk around before our tour so we went to this overlook and took a lot of pictures. There was a really pretty garden that we checked out too. The whole town was beautiful and our Accent person made a great point that Paris is not France, it is only one part so we need to experience the other parts too. Chartre is beautiful and really quaint. It is much different than Paris, there is no hustle and bustle or craziness. It is exactly what you would think of a French town looking like.
We went into the cathedral and got our headsets and met our tour guide, Malcolm Miller. He has to be like 70 years old and has been lecturing at the cathedral since 1958. He is from England and is a total sarcastic hardass so he was really fun to listen to. He mentioned that visiting the cathedral is like visiting a library, you can't read all the books in one day or even in a life time, and you can't see or fully appreciate the cathedral in one day either. And we only had an hour. He started off telling us a brief history about the cathedral and how it has been under construction for a year and will be for another five. Every time the workers made noises he stopped and made some comment about working with animals. He also is not a fan of kids as there was a big group of them running around.
He explained how the stained glass is original and tells all different types of stories. You have to read them top to bottom then left to right. He showed us one stained glass window that has all the zodiac signs on it. He also explained that apparently there is a long piece of material that was Mary's from the nativity when she had Jesus, but it is kept in this beautiful casing that thieves tried to steal and they ripped the cloth so now only a small piece remains. It was pretty neat to look at everything, but we only had an hour with him and clearly needed more time. Mr. Miller is extremely knowledgeable and was great to listen to. I just got really annoyed when Sallie was sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM and was asleep for about 50% of the lecture. She is so stupid. A lot of people looked pretty bored, but I really really enjoyed it. I wish I had more time there though. I think it is my second favorite place we have been to after Sacre Coeur.
It took two hours to get home so we got dropped off at Bastille and there were a ton of police army people in front of the Opera house and they asked where we were going. I have no idea what happened. There was red tape in front of the entrance to the opera so clearly something was going down. We stopped at Monoprix to get groceries and then I headed home and had some yummy cheese tortellini and a tomato and basil noodle salad thing. It is my roommate's 22nd birthday today so some people are going out, but I'm exhausted and will be going to sleep shortly. We have class with boring Thomas tomorrow and then our last visit with Armoogum. It's going to be a long day....
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