Fin de Janvier

We went to the Musee d'Orsay yesterday for my Art History class and it was awesome! We saw Degas, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and Gauguin (all the impressionist artists we're learning about in class!) We wore these ear piece headphone things (My prof called them earrings--English is his second language) and he wore a mic to tell us about the paintings as we toured. It was so wonderful. The museum is an old train station. It's huge and beautiful and light and there is a café that is behind the huge clock so one wall you look out through it. There is also a ball room with ornate ceilings and statues. I learned so much and realized how much greater and more interesting it is to go to a museum with someone who can explain things clearly. My professor knew so much about the paintings and was able to share their historical significances with us. Little thingsin the paintings that i would never notice on my own turned out to mean something extraordinary...like some huge transformation in the style of art that was happening at the time. So cool.
After the museum, a few of us girls stopped in a café for hot chocolate and shared two cheese plates. It was bitter cold, wet and rainy so the "chocolat chaud" was perfect. I then went home, took a hot bath, read some stuff for class and took a short nap. Then I met Hayley and Amy at the Bastille at 9:30. There are tons of adorable cafés, restaurants, bars, and shops in that area. We went in one bar that had a submarine/extreme sports/Aussie theme feel to it. The guys working there and their friends were pretty funny and cute and we ended up hanging around for awhile talking to them. Then we went to another bar down the street where we made friends again! This really cool girl, Olivia from Normandy and I really hit it off--she said she could understand my French (!) Her friends were nice too and we ended up hanging out with them for awhile! She gave me her number and I am to call her tomorrow for some concert or something. I thought that was really nice... I always really appreciate friendly Parisians:) My friend Thomas from Tulane is studying in Lyon for the semester and he is visiting Paris for the weekend! It will be really nice to see him. Too bad we're both missing Mardi Gras weekend! We will have to make up for it somehow!

Chloé