Maissie in Paris!!

Well from the title of the blog you can assume what this entry is going to be all about.  My sister, Maissie, came to visit me during her two week spring break.  It was amazing having her here and getting to share my experience with her.  I unfortunately started my real classes at the Catho while she was here so I couldn’t hang out with all day every day but we still did a lot of stuff together and had a lot of fun.  She arrived on February 20^th in the morning at CDG and I got there early and let me tell you waiting for someone to show up is one of the hardest things to do because you are excited to see that person and just want to see them.  But she arrived and we went back to my foyer; she was thankfully allowed to stay with me since my roommate was still going to be in California while Maissie was here.  It did make things a lot easier having her stay with me instead of her staying on the other side of the city.  The first day she was here we didn’t do much, I went to school and we had dinner and went to bed at a decent hour.  She also came with a bunch of stuff that I had requested that she bring like deodorant (I don’t like the French options) and other stuff like plastic bowls. 

On the 21^st I had school all day, well from 10am to 5pm with an hour lunch break and afterwards I met up with Maissie near Sainte Chapelle.  We then walked over to Shakespeare & Company which is an English bookstore not too far away.

Maissie and I in front of Shakespeare & Co, (I also really like this picture).

Then on Wednesday the 22^nd of February I didn’t have any classes so we went over to the Rodin Museum but they are unfortunately working on the gardens too so that was a major disappointment. 

Maissie in the Rodin Museum

The Rodin Museum, it was rather sunny and warm out which was nice

We then later headed over to the Eiffel Tower and decided to walk up to the second level since well the line was shorter and it was a lot cheaper.  We climbed up 668 steps and boy was it exhausting!!  But it was a nice time and we had some nice views of the city.

View from the first floor on the Eiffel Tower

Another view of Paris

Yet another view of Paris

Our “cousins” came up with us (from left to right: Sam, AJ, Kathleen, and Katie)

Maissie and I resting

Maissie on the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower after we walked back down

The paper cousins (Sam, AJ, Kathleen, & Katie) in front of the Eiffel Tower

Maissie and I in front of the Eiffel Tower

Our paper cousins AJ and Katie in front of the Eiffel Tower

Our paper cousins Sam and Kathleen in front of the Eiffel Tower

Me with Uncle Mike, Dad, Mom, Aunt Jo, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bob & Aunt Karen in front of the Eiffel Tower

Maissie and I then left the Eiffel Tower area and headed over to Place de la Concorde to see the Obélisque and just the views of Paris.

Maissie and I at Place de la Concorde

The Obélisque at Place de la Concorde

The view of the Arc de Triomphe from Place de la Concorde

We then went home and had some dinner which consisted of PB&Js and some fruit and for dessert we had Girl Scout Cookies.

Maissie making “dinner”

After eating dinner and relaxing for a little bit we headed over to the Louvre because it is open late on Wednesday evenings and so we decided we had to go since we would be out of town that weekend.  So we hopped on the metro and headed on over to the Louvre for an evening of exploring the halls and getting cultured in art.

Maissie and I in the Louvre

They also had an exhibition of American art at the Louvre

I really like this painting by Sir Henry Raeburn, it is called Innocence

This is when we got lost in the Louvre trying to find the French art and Maissie was tired from climbing all those stairs

We came upon Impressionism art like that of Alfred Sisley (one of my favorites)

Maissie and I in front of the Pyramid at the Louvre

The Louvre at night is beautiful

We then went home and were tired from all the walking and stair climbing that we had done that we went to bed so we could get up and be ready for another day, which would consist of school for me from 10am to 5pm.  On Thursday the 24^th of February I went to school all day and that wasn’t very exciting.  I don’t remember what Maissie did but she did something, if you see her she can ask you because she kept a better record of our time together than I did.  Well anyways that evening we went to the Musée D’Orsay and were thankful that Maissie had a special pass for the museums because we got to skip the long line to get in!  We walked around and just checked out the museum, my favorite section was the whole top floor that was dedicated to Impressionism art.  It had all my favorites like Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Degas, and so much more.  It was splendid!  Unfortunately they do not allow picture taking in the Musée D’Orsay so sadly no pictures.  We then were really tired and went home to go to bed so that we could get up early the next morning to go to Marseille and Arles for the weekend with my program.