Weekend Trip Fail.

And the Failure of the Year Award goes toooo...... (insert drum-roll here).... Miss Sandra Sauvé!!!!!!!!!!!!! for missing the bus to Mont. St-Michel.
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Yup, that's right. I'm presently* typing out this post rather than meeting new people and experiencing the magnificent beauty of that oh so glorious Mont. St-Michel. (insert Sandie's sad face here) "What?!?!" Why?!!? What happened?" are among the questions you may ask me. Well, now how can i say this without sounding like a total dufus... oh yeah, I can't. So here is the truth: Now picture this dumbness, Sandie sleeps peacefully in her fluffy loft bed. with her cell phone (i.e. alarm clock) by her head. Said cell phone, rudely awakens her at 4:55am. (the bus was leaving EARLY for Mont. St-Michel and she didn't want to miss it) About one third of Sandie's brain awakens to the sound of the annoying french cell phone jingle. However the two thirds of Sandie's brain that wished to remain asleep and kill all French cell phones, decided to play a mean joke on Sandie by turning off said cell phone alarm rather than hitting snooze. Sandie goes back to sleep and doesn't wake up again 'till after the bus had left. It was all a simple matter of wake vs. snooze, of one third strong vs. two thirds weak. And the weaker sleepier, Dumber side prevailed.

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Once I realized what I had done, sadness naturally came, I still didn't have any friends in Paris, and I so wanted to go on this trip. "What the heck am I gonna do this weekend now.!?" I thought to myself (*cough cough* someone please throw a shoe at Sandie and remind her that she's in Paris!)
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I updated my facebook status (as I have taken to doing all too frequently), to seek the support of my friends back home. I was sent two huge blessings. A friend back home who couldn't sleep was an ear to my troubles and a long distance pat on the back who gave me a little news about current events at home. Then another friend who knows Paris, told me about this cool museum to visit, and about the surrounding area, namely a beautiful park and church which I must see.

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Things were looking up and the kettle was whistling. I bid my friends good night and good day. And put some freshly ground coffee into my french press to brew, while i dashed down to the bakery to buy some comfort breakfast. "Deux croissants au burre, s'il vous plait, madame."

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I rushed home, ate the flaky deliciousness of french baking, drank up the freshness of of the life boosting** coffee, threw some pencils and a sketch book into a backpack and headed for the metro station. Even the sun was shining; things indeed were looking up.

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I went to a free museum called "Musee Carnavalet" a mansion converted into a museum. It has some really beautiful paintings of various scenes in Paris as well as some awesome portraits, some cool old iron store signs, and rooms filled with 17th century Parisian furniture. I wandered around in there for a while taking in all the art and feeling quite humble as an artist, but also very inspired.

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Next was lunch, a slice of pizza and a tarte au citron from a nearby bakery, which I ate in the most beautiful park, called Place des Vosges.
Pictured here ->
(little side note: Victor Hugo - author of Les Miserables lived in one of the surrounding houses, cool, eh?) I started a sketch, but need to go back again to work on it some more. I kept making mistake with the perspective, and soon started feeling the chill of autumn in my feet, so I decided to give up on my drawing for a bit and make my way to my next destination, the church of St. Louis and St. Paul just a few blocks away.
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The Church was so pretty. I went in and said some prayers and then made like a tourist and proceded to admire every bit of the place. Completed in 1641, this awe inspiring house of God contained so much history I could feel it in the air. I love the smell of the stone in an old church. Oh and I just read that it's the oldest Jesuit church in Paris. I was especially impressed with the dome and the two side altars, one dedicated to the Sacred Heart, and the other to the Blessed Mother. I LOVED the statue of our lady, I decided to do a couple of sketches of here. So i set myself up and got started on a little sketch to get the basic look of the statue... I couldn't stop polishing my drawing and eventually ended up with this little piece (see image at the left). It's only about 3.5 inches high. and I plan to do another larger sketch of her face, which is really beautiful and is not portrayed well by my little sketch.
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Eventually I left this beautiful church and started exploring the nearby streets. I bought a little blue kettle for my little apartment and a canvas, but no shoes or scarves or pretty eclectic earrings. I stumbled upon this little vintage store, packed with young women trying on sweaters and coats. I squeezes my way in and noticed some odd looking dresses and very 80 looking sweaters, I kept rummaging through the racks and eventually found this beautiful coat for 15 euro!! AH! what a steal! I tried it on, and it was miles too big. why do I have to be so damn small all the time!!! LOL. I always forget my size and was sure it would fit. luckily I tried before I buyed.... and did not buy. I will however be revisiting this store in the future, I hope. Maybe I'll eventually get my hands on something in my size.
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On Sunday I went to Mass in Versaille in the morning, went home, took and nap, and spent from 4pm 'till 6pm checking out the beautiful art in Le Petit Palais.

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Here are two stolen-from-the-internet pictures of the bridge I took to get to the museum and the museum itself. very pretty and well worth another visit. The permanent collection is free and awesome!

Bridge.

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le Petit Palais
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So as it turns out, my weekend was not a total loss. I took in a lot of art, architecture, and beauty. And am so grateful to be living in this gorgeous city.

A bientot mes amies!!!

In Corde Jesu,

Sandieness

* I started typing up this post last Saturday.
** I was going to say "life giving coffee", but thought it might be a little blasphemous.