Day 3 and Day 4

I would first like to start off by saying that the United States has nothing on Western Europe. Every building here seems to invoke a sense of pride, history and heritage that goes back hundreds of years. Nothing in books or pictures of Parisian monuments even compare to the real up close version of them.

Yesterday after my first day of classes a couple of people from my program and I decided to go to the Latin Quarter. I did not even know what I was in for when I arrived at St. Michels fountain and Notre Dame. We started wondering around like absent minded tourists aka Targets for crime, fascinated by the cobblestoned lined side streets that hosted a variety of creperies and french cuisine. While this is considered a tourist place... my meal was a called "menu touristique", the magnificence of the architecture and sculptures was worth being a target. Of course, it was at night so I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures, and I spent the rest of the time exploring the area and trying to keep warm. I felt like I was in Paris.

However, on our way to class this morning I realized that I will be passing the Eiffel Tower every day to make it to class at Dauphine University for one my classes. The tower is an incredible structure. It really hit me that this is what it is like to be in another country that has historical monuments and landmarks all over the city. It is a normal thing. Living in Dallas, I consider a historical landmark to be the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and the microphone at Reunion Tower. My Intro to European Issues professor at Dauphine began to put what being Parisian and living in France is all about... Pride. These people are proud of thier country and thier city's fascinating buildings. They are proud of their history and heritage. Something that I don't think a lot of Americans really grasp the concept of. Also, taking classes with French students is like being in a building filled with hipsters except these people are actually really cool. Craziness!

After class, we went back to the Latin Quarter and saw Notre Dame. I remember seeing pictures of Notre Dame in my art history classes. I have read about it and how it was built, but being up close was something kind of wonderful. I felt like I was in a picture. It was actually unreal. It is GINORMOUS! The intricacies of the structure and it's granduer really had me thinking about how human beings were able to do this. How today we have technology and modern equipment to build the Trump Tower and the Empire State building, but what about the art and significance of something like Notre Dame.

Even walking along the Seine was like being in a movie or a history book. It was just beautiful. While it might be one of the worst winters Paris has had in a years, being in Paris makes it worth it.

As you can probably tell... my classes are going really well :)

Imah