Rodin, Shakespeare, Cluny & LAUNDRY

So I'm very proud to say despite classes and having a little cold I have actually gotten to see a lot in the past week. On Friday, I went to the Rodin Museum which was really interesting and pretty, I can't wait to go back in the spring, though, when the gardens are in bloom! 

Le Penseur & Les Invalides!

Le Porte De L'Enfer (Rodin was inspired by the Inferno and many of his works, including this one reference characters or stories from the Inferno)

Up Close Shot of Le Porte De L'Enfer

Le Baiser

L'Age De Mur (by Rodin's muse, Camille Claudel)

After exploring the Rodin museum, I went on a random adventure with my friends and ended up at Galleries Lafayette!

Galleries Lafayette

Opera

Later that weekend, a friend and I decided to walk over to Shakespeare & Co, a famous bookstore next to Notre Dame. On our walk over, though, we happened across the Pantheon and lots of other cool sights!

The Pantheon (I have yet to explore the inside, but the outside was impressive enough!)

Universite De Paris

Shakespeare & Co

My friend Rachel and I in front of Shakespeare & Co

The store also included lots of eclectic decorations like this stuffed bird, a piano, typewriters and plenty of comfy chairs.

Yesterday was my second art history field trip to the Musee de Cluny, which houses the original Roman baths from when Paris was Lutetia.  Later the baths where built around to make a classic "hotel" in Paris, which was kind of like a town house for the wealthy. This particular "hotel" was built by/for abbot Jacques D'Amboise, so it also included a small chapel. Unfortunately the museum had the remains of the baths closed off, but there was still plenty to see! 

The Main Staircase in the Hotel

An original piece of stained glass from the Sainte Chapelle but was moved to the Musee de Cluny when damaged.

The original heads of the Kings at Notre Dame (The Kings where changed when it was decided that the Kings on Notre Dame should represent French Kings instead of religious Kings)

La Dame et La Licorn (Probably Musee De Cluny's most prominent work)

The Ceiling in the Chapel

Staircase that leads to the Chapel

After the field trip, I decided to confront one of the biggest issues I have had since coming to Paris: Laundry. After searching by foot for the nearest laundromat (because they do not come up on google for some reason), then searching for an open supermarket on a Sunday to buy detergent (which took about 3 hours- literally everything closes on Sundays here), then having to go to 3 separate supermarkets over the next 3 days because I kept accidentally buying things that weren't actually detergent (hint: detergent in french is détergent, don't ask me how I made this mistake... twice) anyways I finally made it to the laundromat with detergent in hand on Wednesday (keep in mind this quest started on Sunday) and figured out the machines with comparative ease. But of course in my moment of pride, someone mistook me for a native French-speaker and when they started going on and on I did not have the heart to tell him I did not speak French and just smiled and nodded till he gave me a suspicious look and said "Parlez-vous Francais??" to which I shyly admitted "on peu" and then patiently waited through his rant (in French) about how this is not England and I need to learn French (don't ask me why I could understand this and nothing else) I also did not bother and correct him and tell him I am actually American, didn't want to make things worse. Anyways, lesson learned, from now on I am going to either: A. handwash or B. go to a cafe/hide while my clothes are in the machine. (ALSO: just because the dryer time defaults to 9 minutes, do not think that the French have super amazing dryers that dry in 9 minutes, otherwise you will have clothes hanging off of literally everything that even resembles a hook in your 10 sq meter room)

Had to document my first great misunderstanding of French language/culture

Besides laundry, though, everything is good! I am still learning a lot of French and classes have not been too hard so far. Plus, it's supposed to be in the 50s this weekend, so I'm looking forward to exploring in relatively nice weather!