La Bastille, Chateau de Versailles

As if we weren't exploring enough, BU has made sure to send us out into Paris to discover all of it's secrets.

Friday: Andrea and I were sent on a scavenger hunt of the 11th arrondisement and la Bastille. Hightlights from our 4 hour tour:

Port de L'Arsenal- It reminded me of Amsterdam with lots of long house boats that float through the Seine in the summer months. I got a beignet sucre at the carnival that was set up at the entrance to the Port.

L'Opera Bastille- It's a very unique and new looking building for the area. It has a round face with a glass front and large entrance stairs. It holds 2700 people in the music hall. We wanted to go inside and take a look, but we weren't allowed. Hopefully, we'll be back soon for an Opera or performance!

Boutiques- The streets are a maze of passages and small stone streets. Although we were supposed to find Passage de L'homme, we ended up in an amazing jewelry shop, Les Fleurs. They had beautiful necklaces and earrings and the place was crowded despite the deserted street. We ended our tour on the Rue de Lappe, which turned out to be our bar-hopping destination later that night.

Saturday: Chateau de Versailles

Friends and I met up early to explore Louis XIV's palace. Our student card got us in to see the 17 grand apartments and the Hall of Mirrors (actually a hall of chandeliers) for free. BU booked us a tram around the gardens, to Maire-Antoinette's Petit Trianon, and his marble castle "hideaway" across the lawn. The gardens would have been stunning in full bloom, however it was freezing, rainy, and muddy. We walked for a few hours around the gardens while our french teacher tried to paint the picture of it's beauty- nope, I just couldn't see it. We ran from the gardens, through the courtyard, and to the nearest cafe. Many student dropped into Starbucks and McDonalds, but I made it to an authentic cafe and order a "grand chocolat chaud", the most amazing hot chocolate one could image.