Sunday Funday

Sunday I was doing 1 thing & 1 thing only: taking advantage of these free museums!
I met Grace at the metro exit at Rèpublique so we could walk to Hillsong together! I was glad that I had someone to go with this week! This is their last week at this location before the move further south in the city to Bobino. We sang a song called "Love like a fire" that was soooooooo good!!!! Definitely my new favorite!! Steve Penny from Australia was the guest speaker & he preached about new beginnings since Hillsong Paris was moving to a new location. It was so good! After that, Grace & I went to the cute little café that has pink & orange curtains & orange seats, but after we waited & waited & no one came to take our order, we left & went to McDonalds! I was in the mood for some coffee!! Grace went to ACP & I decided not to go that week & headed towards Place de Vosges to go to some museums. I love walking around the Marais, which is this awesome neighborhood really close to my apartment. I dont think I have ever seen the cafés so full! There were people everywhere! I walked down some backstreets & started realizing (again) just how much I am going to miss this place!!! Even though Paris is a big city, this area has a very "homey" quaint feel! I ran into Megan a few weeks ago at the grocery store & was just minding my business walking through the streets when I heard someone say "HEY!" It was Megan! I love running into people in the streets!!! We stayed & chatted & she was coming back from the nail salon & I was headed in the other direction, but we said our goodbye's & made plans for next week. I thought for sure there was going to be a monster line to get into Victor Hugo's house, but to my surprise I just walked right in! The inside felt very much like a 1920's parlor & you had to walk up windy marble stairs to get to his second floor apt. The first room you walk into is like a foyer/greeting hall & it leads into the Grand room that is all res damask with velour red drapes. This apartment was the longest place Hugo every lived...I believe he was there for about 12 years. Apparently he used to move a lot! All the furniture was moved & some of it sold after he died & before the museum was made so it was decorated based on his personal recollection that he wrote, from friends & from his grandchildren, who also donated most of the furniture they had from him. To rent the entire apartment, which was quite spacious with tall ceilings, was only 1500 francs/year! The grand room led to the Oriental Room & you feel like you just walked into a different world! I felt like I was in a Chinese Tea Garden. Everything was very green & there were plates & lanterns hung around the room. The rest of the rooms were the office, parlor & bedroom...ALL which had very floral wallpaper to match the floral carpet and the floral ceilings. That much matching gave me a headache!!! On the way to Carnavelet, I passed a group of guys singing that "abba ba deeba abbbaaaa" (if you heard the song, you would totally know it!) & I felt so euro!! Then I browsed through some of the local shops & walked down really cute streets & was enjoying every single minute of the sunshine!! The interior courtyard at Carnavalet reminds me of something out of a fairytale. There are perfectly manicured bushes & flowers & vines that go up the side of the walls & the museum itself looks like a castle! The museum is about the history of Paris & has art work & relics from all the time periods & each room is decorated in the decor from that time. I didn't like the really old parts from the Roman times, but when it got to Louis the 13th & 14th...OOH LA LA I loved it! The rooms looked like they came straight off the set of Marie Anotinette, so DUH I was in love! so beautiful!! I wanted to get to Invalides before it closed & I wasn't sure if itclosed at 4 or 6 so I hustled there! Walking into Invalides reminded me a little bit of walking into Versailles because of the big gate entrance. The cobblestone was SOOO difficult to walk on & I was even wearing flat shoes!!! I walked in the center area of Invalides, which is a 4-wall enclosure with an open courtyard in the middle & found the hallway that lead past the military/world war/armour museums because I was just going to see Napolean's tomb. After walking what felt like an eternity, I got to the entrance side of where the tomb is & looked up in awe. Ive taken several pictures of Invalides & walked past it zillions of times, but seeing it up that close was amazing! The gold dome sparkled even brighter & was even more detailed & intricate than I could have ever imagined! I walked in & my jaw hit the floor. The height & beautifully architected dome was astonishing. I have always said that I enjoy looking at the art & detail of the ceilings better than whatever is in display at whatever museum or exhibit I'm at & that was totally the case here! Well, until I looked straight ahead & saw an amaaaaaaaaazing gold & ornate alter!!! holy smokes! EVERYTHING in this place was gorgeous!! I walked up the stairs to the alter then down the swirly stairs to the crypts & the atrium where the Emperor Napolean the 1st is buried. His casket/tomb or whatever its called is MASSIVE!!!! you walk around the outer circle which surrounds the tomb & there is sculptures which tell stories from his life & accomplishments: There was also the tomb for Napolean II down there as well! Upstairs, there were little atrium chambers that branched off the central dome area where Joseph Napolean & other famous people who I didn't know were buried. I walked back into the 4-sided open courtyard & up to the 2nd floor to the Alley of Honor & there were memorials & dedications that lined all 4 walls! Thats when Dad called & told me that Clemson lost in OVERTIME to Auburn :( booooooo!!! That put a damper in my day for about 3 minutes. I went into the Charles de Gualle exhibit & it was very high tech & interesting! There were video clips, images, personal belongings & interactive stations throughout the whole exhibit, which was set up chronoligically by year. After that, it was evening time & I wanted to get some good shots of the Statue of Liberty by Bir Hakeim, so I did that & went back to Chatalet to walk through the vintage thrift shops again before they closed! I wanted to walk through H&M again, but it was closed & I didnt feel like taking the metro since it was still gorgeous outside, so I walked by Rambeauteau, Arts & Metiers & down Rue de Temple all the way until it intersected with Rue Béranger!!!

SUCH a fantastic way to end the weekend & I'm so happy that I got to spend my last weekend in Paris (for this European excursion!!!) doing exactly what I wanted to do! ...Now I have to get in the bed & get prepared for my last week of work! FINALLYYYYY!! There is light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!!