No Summary? No Summery either!

I was realizing today that there is no possible way that I can summarize all that I have done on this trip. It has been so amazing (and still one week to go!). You saw some shots of Paris... beautiful, right? Yep. An amazing and inspiring city. Since Paris I have also seen:

Tournai- totally cool city. Charming, picturesque, and quiet. It is like walking into a little fairytale town or something. Check it out...





Yeah... Disneyland's got nothing on Europe.

And then there was Brussels. I really should tell you about some of our adventures in Brussels. It was a bit gray and gloomy feeling while we were there but on our first day we had a fantastic walking tour where we learned all about the history of Brussels in two short hours. We saw the grand square where the town hall is, observed some of the details on the building that give Brussels a little character, saw the Manneken Pis (as well as what we think was a TV commercial being shot there...), and got the scoop on which candy/chocolate shops were the good ones.

Then we went to see the Brussels Royal Museum of Fine Arts some more art history, this time delving into the world of Flemish Primitives, Northern Renaissance, and the Flanders painters. Saw some great stuff... but no photos were allowed :(

BUT, when we came out to head back to the hotel we saw a glimmer of hope. The gloomy day was lifting...

huh?

We saw...


GOLD PEOPLE!!!

squee!

Now what exactly are these gold people? Well, we were asking ourselves that very question! They told us a very little bit about it, handing us stickers as they walked on. But what do you do when such a group is in front of you...


Well, duh. You follow.



So we did.

One of my classmates is now an honorary member. I think she fits in with them, don't ya think?

omg, OMG, OMG!!!!
(actually, she was quite speechless!)

Well, eventually they wandered on and I was ready for an afternoon coffee, AND a Belgian waffle thank-you-very-much! So the gold people wandered away and life in Brussels returned to normal.



So, in case you are interested, the "gold people", as I have referred to them here, are part of an art project by the Polish artist Pawal Althamer. Part of the project is to commemorate the 20 years it has been since the free elections of Poland in 1989.

Paris Drive By

St. Chapelle, Paris

I know- I missed Friday.
I have been gone now for three weeks, I think. I am not entirely sure what day of the week it is. The calendar at the bottom of my computer says that it is the 5th... which I think is a Thursday. Geez.

So I spent a week and a half and a day in Paris. Wow. LOVED Paris. I love the history, the buildings, the language (just wish I was more conversational with it), the food, the mood. Really a fantastic city. I have taken lots of photos but have not had time to do a lot of processing. I have started the Art History course that I came to Europe for and am running around striving to keep up with a bunch of younger adults who are quite fun. We have seen museums... lots of them. We have seen Cathedrals and I could now write a paper on the differences between Romanesque, Neo-Classical and Gothic architecture. I have had school assignments to complete (though thankfully not the one I just mentioned!) and have marveled at how late the sun sets here.

The "you-know-what" at about 10 pm.

I am now in Brussels, but I hope you enjoy these few photos from Paris. You'll get a legit blog post one of these days when I have more time to actually write. And now... I have to go finish a school assignment on... oh yeah, Gothic architectural elements in cathedrals!