So today Megan and I slept late, which is always really nice. I don't know if it's spending so much time on the metro or always doing stuff or being in a city or what, but I am always so tired here. Maybe it's my really comfy bed. But yeah, we got up late, and I found a Thai restaurant in my guidebook that was near the Place de Châtelet. It was cheap and really yummy! We have decided that going out to lunch is a better idea than going out to dinner, it's cheaper. It made me miss Thai Diner in Richmond a little. But yeah, it was awesome. Really good spring rolls.
After that we took the metro to Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried, and spent the afternoon there. It was actually built because Louis XIV wanted a hospital for wounded soldiers. The first stop was the Eglise St-Louis, because the veterans needed a chapel to go to with their king, but they needed separate entrances, of course. The church was really pretty. Then there is the Eglise du Dôme, where Napoleon's tomb is. His coffin is pretty huge, it's actually a series of 6 coffins, one inside the other. His son and some other family members are also buried there. Lots of statues and prettiness. It was pretty cool. I always kind of thought of Napoleon as a bad historical figure, but the French love him, I think? I'm still not really sure about that. But there's a quote of his plastered everywhere, the English translation is "I want my ashes to rest on the banks of the Seine where I can be near the people of Paris that I have loved so much" or something similar.
So our entrance ticket also bought us admission to the Musée de l'Armée. It was a museum of war and army stuff (obvi) that started from the Napoleonic Wars but focused mostly on World Wars I and II. You would really like it, Dad, you guys should go when you come visit. It was sort of interesting but I have a feeling Robi or Dad would have appreciated it more, haha. I was more amused by all the different colored uniforms and the mannequins than anything else. It was informative, though.
Then Megan and I walked around the Seine near le Musée d'Orsay for awhile, before coming home and cooking for the first time! Well, cooking that didn't consist of microwaving a frozen meal from Picard, which is quickly becoming my favorite store, I wish they had them at home. We made pasta and sauce, and the jarred sauce I picked out was yummy so yay for that! That plus fresh French bread and a chocolate caramelly dessert we bought at Picard=yummmmm. We then proceeded to be total Americans and watch the season premieres of Grey's and The Office.
Last night was one of our dinners with our host family, which was pretty awesome. Megan and I really look forward to dinners with them even though they last forever, since they are just so enjoyable. They just found out they are going to be grandparents for the first time and they are so excited! It's so cute. They've been married over 30 years and they are very silly and fun and we have really great conversations with them. Florence is so cute and Paul-Henri is just so informative and always so interested in what we've done for the day. They encourage us to explore so much and are always telling us about museums we should go to or places we should see. Florence actually told us last night that two of her good friends are Becky and Maria's host moms, which is pretty funny! They keep telling us that we are very well-brought up, and very good girls, and that we speak French very well considering the short time we've been here. Our host dad asked us about how we feel we're improving and I said that my comprehension has gotten a lot better (I can understand them when they talk to each other, not just to us, and salespeople have stopped looking at me like I'm an idiot) but there still seems to be a delay with the speaking part. He said that will come in time. I still feel like I learn five new words every day but immediately forget them....marrant means funny, orloge means clock, attaque cerveau is a stroke. And I'm constantly messing up genders of nouns and prepositions, and my accent sucks. Florence tells me when I complain about how hard the accent is that the accent is just for aesthetics, really. She says knowing the vocabulary and the grammar is much more important.
OK, I think I've written enough for now. Here are my Facebook album links from today (which feature not only Napoleon and the museum but Amanda and Megan's Cooking Adventures)
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053166&l=18b1a&id=15805278
and
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053167&l=c788e&id=15805278
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