Chateau, Chateau, oh my, oh my!

You see, I told you I would be writing soon! Let's go over a quick recap since Wednesday...
Thursday: Class of course...then a visit to the Musee D'Orsay that night. I sadly have no pictures for you because they are strictly forbidden...don't you worry though, I found that one out the hard way. After the museum, we stopped at a little cafe for dinner, where, I had my very first snail!!! ahem...Escargot I mean... It was a little chewy a lot garlicy. Let's just say I tried it once and I am just fine with that!
Friday: Today was my last day of phonetics and we ended it with nothing else but a test! It was easy breazy and I must admit that I was sad to say "Au Revoir" to our Prof. In the afternoon, we shopped a bit on our way home from class and I was rather successful with two dresses! But who cares about clothes right?! On to the FOOD! We were bold that night, and ventured to a Turkish restaurant near Notre Dame. I had a doner kebab and it was AMAZING! The sauces mixed with the smoked flavors and a dash of cous cous was enough to set me up forever...Thank you Will for the wonderful recommendation. We strolled back with full tummies and Paris glowing from nearby streetlamps.
Saturday: Our day started out with a very short start...almost an emperial start...If you haven't figured out my clues...we went to Les Invalides: The location of Napoleon the first's tomb. Because the tomb is on the first floor and the viewing spot is on the second, everyone is forced to fufill Napoleon's last wish...to have the world bow before his tomb...so everyone was "bowing" over the side to get a better view of this self-centered, little man. Next, I hopped on the metro and found myself at the Opera House. Hello Phantom of the Opera. Although I did not get to see the lake underneath the opera, I did see the grand staircase, the ornate lamps, and of course the chandalier. I roamed around with "Mascarade" playing through my head.
That night, we rode out to Vaux le Vicompte. A brief history...Built by same man who built Versailles. Built for finance chief Foucet...Foucet threw a housewarming party...at the beginning of the night Foucet was "king," by midnight Louis the Fourteenth enraged with jealousy ruined him... now wasn't that so happy? We arrived at around 9:30 that night with the chataux glowing from thousands of candles. Even the gardens were illuminated with candles at every corner. We picniced here and enjoyed the general splendor of candle-light and fireworks...I felt as if I were back in the 1600's.
Sunday: I met my friend, Joana, at Hillsong church. For those of you wondering, it is in both French and English. The pastor speaks a few sentences then the translator relates the same in English. It was such a wonderful way to start my day. After lunch, Joana and I took the RER to the outside of Paris, hopped on bus number 258 and hopped off at Josephine Bonaparte's little Chateau: Malmaion. What a dream! It was not crowded at all and the weather was absolutely beautiful. We toured the chateau where we saw Josephine's art collection, her harp, her daughter Hortense's piano all within one room! The library was just as impressive. This room was filled with thousands of books, many from the original library of Malmaison. My favorite room would have to be Josephine's bedroom, which was draped in red fabric with a beautiful canopied bed. We continued our tour to the third floor, where we saw Josephine's dresses and even her undies! How silly she must have thought it if she knew that people were admiring her undergarments! Our tour ended in the beautiful gardens by a tree planted in 1800 by Josephine and Napoleon themselves. How wonderful it was to be walking through the rooms I have read so much about. I spent the entire afternoon with Josephine in the early 1800's...what a life!
Well, enough with the cheese for now, I apologize if I got carried away a bit :) Talk to you soon!