Travel Recap, Cont.

23 March: Our second day in Paris was Easter, so we started off the morning trying to attend mass at Notre Dame. We got there too late to get seats, and then were a bit startled to see that the cathedral was still function as tourist site while mass was going on - people walking around snapping pictures of architecture and filming videos of the stained glass during Easter Mass! After seeing the cathedral for a bit and not understanding any of French mass, we went to Sainte Chapelle, which was he most beautiful church, and quite possibly the most beautiful building, I've ever been in. We stayed in Sainte Chapelle for awhile, just in awe of the stained glass, before heading out to explore along the river. Lunch bread and Caroline's peanut butter mailed from the States before we got crepes from a street vendor near by. We then trekked to the Arc de Triumph and climbed to the top for a beautiful view of the city. Finally, we made our way back to the hostel where we ended up taking long naps before getting up for dinner - and then getting to bed early as we set off for Versailles the next morning!






March 24: For our last day in Paris we decided to tackle Versailles. We were warned by both our hotel owner and a metro guard that the palace would be closed because it was a Monday, but we decided to go check out the gardens - and then were pleasantly surprised that the palace was open! We saw of the chambers and the hall of mirrors, which were absolutely stunning, but almost overwhelming and then set out to explore the gardens and took the very long walk around the pools and gardens in the park next to the palace. We got lunch from a vendor and then headed back into the city where we were met with rain. We ducked into the first cafe we saw for some over-priced cappuccinos and a bite to eat - and then met up with Mike, a friend of ours from our page year, that is studying at La Sorbonne for the semester. The three of us decided to split a 2 euro bottle of wine, but as it was raining and Caroline and I had already checked out of our hotel, we ended up drinking it under a bridge along the Seine. We headed out to an area of the suburbs near where Mike is living to check out some architecture and then had to part ways with Mike. Caroline and I had an amazing late dinner near our hotel before grabbing our bags and heading to the Orly airport where we'd stay for the night.






25 March: After sleeping on benches in the Orly airport for the night, Caroline and I awoke at 4:00AM to catch our flight to Berlin. We were greeted in Berlin by snow, which we were both excited as - Caroline as a Floridian studying who studying in Spain and never sees it, and me, as someone who has been missing it from Canada. It wasn't much and none of it really stuck, but it was fun to jump around in our way to our hostel. We drop our bags in a locker and then grabbed amazing and cheap pastries at a cafe near-by. A note about Berlin, the unemployment rate is around 16%, much higher than nearly all of the rest of Western Europe, so it is quite cheap, even with the weakness of the US dollar. After warming up with pastries and cappuccinos, we decided to take one of the free tours offered by New Berlin, but ended up paying to go on a tour of the Sauchenhausen Concentration Camp with was just outside Berlin. The tour last several hours and was both overwhelming and sobering. One of the most striking things for me, personally, was just how freezing I was bundled up in winter clothes on the snowy day after a full breakfast, and thinking about just how cold and painful it must have been for the inmates, which just one cotton uniform and boots filled with holes, if they had any shoes at all. As sad and sobering as the visit to the concentration camp was, I am very glad that Caroline and I decided to go. After the tour ended in the late afternoon, we headed to a grocery store and I used my limited German to help us buy the wrote groceries (apple juice instead of apple flavoured juice drink, water without carbonation, etc.) and we headed back to our hostel for an early dinner. After dinner we went to the DDR museum, which was all about life in East Berlin and East Germany before reunification, which was absolutely fascinating. Finally we finally walked along the river Spree back to our hostel and went to bed a bit early, after only getting a few hours of sleep in the airport the night before.



And I will continue updating later tonight or tomorrow, but for now studying calls!