I guess someone on this floor has visitors because I woke up last night to a male voice I didn't recognize talking extremely loud. I tried to ignore it but I just couldn't. I got out of bed, blindly put on pants, and went to confront him. He was drunkenly screaming at someone he was facetiming with. I told him to leave and then stumbled back to bed. This morning when my alarm went off I was surprised that it was past eight. I thought I set it to let me sleep until nine. Oh well. I ate some cookies in bed before getting up to work on my hair some more. I've gotten it to stop being a ball of frizz, but it's still poofy despite my best efforts. After rangling my hair, I went to my desk and started reading Horne chapter 19. I read half of the chapter before reading half of an extremely convoluted article about pop in Quebec. I realized that I accidentally put the Horne chapter 18 notes in my pop section in my blind rage on Thursday. I left myself a note and highlighted it before finishing the rest of chapter 19. I took a break to work on my hair some more. I think I might have burned it.
Up next was eating the rest of my mac n cheese while reading a newspaper article for histories. It was about a small town in France that changed the name of Pétain street after national outcry. Now that I've been reading so much about French history, I actually found it interesting. By this point it wasn't even noon. I wanted to do something today, and remembered that going to the Petit Palais was on my list. Christina had mentioned that the entrance is free during our excursion on Wednesday so I looked it up. The collection sounded amazing and I got really excited about going. I was going to study for French before going on my adventure but I was too excited to wait. I threw on some makeup and a hat to cover my hair and ran to the one. I didn't even write down directions.
I took the one to Champs-Elyées Clemenceau and took exit six. Since I was already basically standing in the center of it, I made a mental note to go back to the marché de noël after I went to the museum. I crossed the street and then started walking to the museum. I passed several of the prerequisite police vans with several police standing around looking bored. As I walked, I saw the heads of two policemen in the van right in front of me. The one on the passenger side leaned over to look out the window at me. The policeman in the driver's side kept staring at me and turned away for a brief second when he saw me staring at him. The police aren't even above staring at women. I'm like Helen of Troy except for street harassment.
I went into the museum and turned left. It is one of the most beautiful museums that I've ever seen. The building was created for the 1900 World's Fair and is quite impressive. There are marble columns, mosaic floors, ornate ceilings, and frescos on the ceilings. There's also a small garden in the center. It is now one of my favorite museums in Paris (how many times can I get away with saying that?). The first collection I saw was of modern (1900s) ornate objects. The collection also included a stuffed monkey for good measure. Next were paintings of Parisian life from the 1700/1800s. All amazing. There were also sculptures scattered around. I really loved the collection of art from the time of Louis XV. There were more stuffed animals, furniture, and everyday objects. There was also a bust that looked familiar. My first reaction was "is that Benjamin Franklin??". It was. There was also a portrait of him. I guess I'm still American after all.
The inside of the palais
The interior courtyard
The garden
Next I moved on to some more modern paintings and then into a room dedicated to animal art that I really loved. I then went downstairs to see more Parisian art, religious art from Greece and Crete, some amazing still lifes, European religious art (including ceramics and woodwork), modern art (think deco. this section also included everyday objects such as ornate hair combs), and a large selection of Roman black fire pottery and Greek bronze work. I then found my way back upstairs. I went into the garden to take a few pictures and then exited. There was an exhibition about baccarat crystal that I didn't visit, but I did manage to take a picture of the huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I just googled it, and there is a baccarat museum in Paris. I'll be going to that.
After the museum I went to look around the Marché de Noël. I was looking for roasted chestnuts, but I also wanted to see if there were any good gifts to buy. I walked past tons of stands selling hot wine, all types of carnival food (like chichis which are the French equivalent of churros), French onion soup, French specialities, dried food, a food court selling everything from wine and champagne to sausages, scarves, ornaments, a massage stand, carnival rides (including one that hired a little person to wear an elf's costume), handmade paper. You name it, it was there. There was even a stand dedicated to Santa costumes. I was going to buy an ornament but they were expensive and touristy. I passed several roasted chestnut stands, but it was five euros for a small. I don't even know if I like chestnuts, and I thought the price was a little steep. My favorite part was the ice skating rink that flooded the streets with melted ice. I really enjoyed walking through the crowd while listening to the "twelve day of christmas" that was being pumped out of speakers lining the street.
The ice rink
I then worked on my pop paper. It needs work, but I guess it's better than the last version. It was surprisingly late by this time, and I was going to skype with mom at eight. I did some more work on my hair and then turned my attention to my synecdoche paper. I kept hearing thumping upstairs so I went to investigate. Neither girl who lives upstairs from me thought that it was them. Am I just crazy? I came back downstairs and finished editing my paper. Mom called me the second I got up to finish making my coffee. We talked for awhile then I got myself a cup of ice cream and started working on my monument analysis two. It needed some work, but I actually not hate it. It did take me two cups of ice cream to finish it.
I then took my shower and got distracted watching New Girl. Time for bed. I'm going to Canal Saint-Martin tomorrow to get Mexican food. I'm so excited.
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