Sunday, August 11, 2013

Royal Treatment



Since arriving to Paris on Wednesday, I have yet to get a full night’s rest. I go to sleep very late, and wake up very early, which is not typical for me. Concerning sleeping times, it is as if my mind is saying “Paris”, while my body screams “California”. So the struggle has definitely been real. Pray it gets better for a sista’.

Today, a group of us, ladies, went to visit Chateau de Versailles, and were able to take the train for the first time (we usually use the underground metro). Of course, on the only day we decide to take it, it broke down merely three stops away from our exit at Versailles. For this reason, we had to wait for another train to come pick us and all of the other passengers up, thus forcing the functioning train’s capacity to be twice its normal occupancy. Two words: human sardines. I honestly don’t think there was a single person on that train who was comfortable. I felt so sorry for my “fun sized” classmates. Because I am taller than the average person, I was towering over most of the other passengers; enabling me to breathe without being directly under someone. Unfortunately, this was not the case for a few of my classmates. But thankfully, we made it safely to our destination. Let the church say amen.

 As we approached the castle, I could not help but think about Beyonce’s new “Mrs. Carter” album cover for her new CD, where she is dressed like a queen. As we stood in line to enter the palace, I imagined how I would feel if I were the queen, and the castle my estate. That was a very surreal moment for me, to say the least. This was my first time at the palace, and I must say it was very overwhelming in the best way possible. I don’t think I’d ever seen real gold before, until today. It was so shiny! As we walked around, Daniella so kindly gave us a history lessons about the palace, its construction, Maria-Antoinette, and Louie XVI. Now, I can finally match faces and locations to all the names and places I had studied in my European history course in High school! We also saw the gardens, The Grand Trianon, Maria-Antoinette’s Petit Trianon, and the Grand Canal. Oh, and enjoyed ice cream. Ice cream here is good.

I am really happy to have had this experience. Though I did not initially want to go, I am so glad I did. I’m anxious to see the pictures we took there. I’m sure they will all look very nice. Until then, I have a bubble bath that is currently calling my name. It has been a long, well-spent day.

Good night from the City of Love.

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