Sorry if I've haven't updated lately, I just had my final exam for Spanish Culture and Civilization and have been very busy lately. But fear not, here is my update. Paris, je t'aime means "Paris, I love you." This weekend some friends and I took a trip to the city of love, Paris, France. We arrived around 10:30 p.m. on Thursday night and just enjoyed a Parisian meal before going to bed in our hostel, named "Oops! Hostel Paris." The name Oops! fit very well. My friend Jack was only booked for 1 night, where as the rest of us were booked for 2. Our room keys failed on us once, and it is one of the most disorganized systems of reservations I've ever seen; it was all in pencil written in a little notebook. Other than the few problems we had the majority of our stay went well. The next morning we woke up ready to get started exploring the city of love. We started off visiting the Palace of Versailles. The palace is absolutely massive. Not only is it a palace, but it has a gigantic set of gardens and is almost a small town in and of itself. The palace is not actually in Paris but some 20 kilometers southwest of the city. The court of Versaille was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is a long lasting symbol of the absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.

After the Palace of Versailles, we headed over to Père Lachaise Cemetery. Now you may be asking, why would we go visit a cemetery in Paris, France of all places. Père Lachaise is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. It is said to be the world's most-visited cemetery and is home to the graves of those who were a large part of France's history or those who are extremely famous and would like to be buried there. It is also home to three World War I memorials. The graves we visited in particular are Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. The famous pianist composer Chopin is buried there but we didn't have time to find his grave. Oscar Wilde's grave is covered in lip-marks from lipstick of those who kiss the grave of one of the greatest writers of his day. Seeing Jim Morrison's sent chills down my spine as I was witness to the remains of one of the most influential and crazy musicians of all time. He died all too soon at the age of 27 back in 1971. After the Père Lachaise Cemetery, we headed over to the world famous Louvre Museum.

The Louvre is the largest national museum in France and the most visited museum of the world. There are almost 35,000 objects on display in the Louvre. It is absolutely massive. We seriously could have spent an entire day in the Louvre, and we almost got lost inside as well. The most famous painting possibly of all-time, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, is on display at the Louvre and is behind a bullet-proof glass casing. In all reality, the Mona Lisa is a very small painting and it gets an entire wall to itself. I personally think there are more impressive works of art in the museum, but it was still great to see it live and in person. Another famous work of art we saw was the ancient Greek sculpture Venus de Milo. The Louvre was awesome and it definitely deserves an entire day to itself. I hope I can go back sometime and finish what I started there. After the Louvre we walked through a flee market, ate dinner, and headed back to the hostel for the night.

The next day we spent walking through the city and visiting the Eiffel Tower. I didn't go up to the top because it costs 11 € but it still is an amazing structure none-the-less. As you all probably know the Eiffel Tower is a global icon for France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It was the tallest structure in the entire world until the Empire State Building took over the top spot in 1931. The tower stands 324 m (1,063 ft.) tall and is the most visited paid monument in the world. We couldn't have visited France and not seen the Eiffel Tower. It practically embodies the spirit of France. After the Eiffel Tower we visited the old Basilica of the Scared heart and got a chance to see the famous night-club/cabaret the Moulin Rouge. After that we just walked through the streets visiting shops and things and experiencing one of the fashion capitals of the world. For dinner that night we went to this restaurant which is famous among visiting students and tourists. It is this tiny little restaurant where they make you climb over the table to reach some of the seating and they treat you poorly as a joke. The meal we purchased included appetizers and cheese fondue with bread. To drink, they served us wine in baby bottles. That's right baby bottles. After dinner we stopped in a bar to hang out and talk about life and our fabulous time in Paris.

Paris is a great city and probably one of the most visited in Europe. It is the home of fashion, wine, the Mona Lisa, and the Eiffel Tower. I wish I had more time in Paris because there is still so much I didn't get a chance to see, including the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I hope that one day I can return to the city of love, and relive it once again. If you want to see pictures of my trip to Paris just visit http://picasaweb.google.com/djruemenapp. Until next time, Paris, je t'aime.

"Hello I love you / Won't you tell me your name? / Hello, I love you / Let me jump in your game."