06.10.06 - Paris: Home of pink toilet paper

My third and second-to-last night train has come to pass, and again I wake up in a different country. It's quite a change from the beaches of San Sebastian to the sirens and bustling subways of Paris, but it is nice to have a little more to stay busy with. The heat, however, has not abandoned me. I'm beginning to wish it would. I went into an internet cafe today and stayed all of 5 minutes because I am fairly certain it would have doubled as a death chamber had I stayed longer.

I am still a bit dazed, but today I went to Versailles!!! YES! It was awesome. I walked the same halls and paths of so manz historical figures, I crept through the (off limits) woods as I'm sure children did way back when when they wanted to be children and not puppets or dolls. Every room I went in I found out - if not wondered beyond the facts I was given - who slept in this bed? Who paced this floor frustrated and challenged by politics that changed society? Who was killed here? Born here? It is an incredible historical place to walk, and kinda funny because it was Louis XIV's in-your-face message of power. He intentionally made himself and depictions of himself as all-powerful a focus throughout the grounds and castle interior. No one can enter without getting the feeling that this man had power and control, and will do what he pleases because he can. What a statement.

After Versailles and a delicious French salad (no, not hte cheap red dressing), I mastered the Parisian subway and made my way to Notre Dame, where I toured today and will go to Mass tomorrow before the Louvre.