A Delightful Day

My sweetheart is waiting for me to read the next chapter in Xenocide (the third book in the Ender's Game series), so I just wanted to quickly document that today was a GREAT day!  We slept in, spent an hour talking about life, read scriptures, ate a yummy breakfast and didn't leave the house until 1:00!  

We joined Burke's classmates on the Champs Elysees to buy the "World's Best Chocolate" as well as potentially the world's most expensive chocolate at the Laduree shop.  We paid 5 Euros for 4 heavenly Oreo-sized cookies that were absolutely scrumptious!

We then walked down the avenue and joined our professors for todays culture class in front of the Grand Palace built in 1890 for the World Exposition in Paris.  This gigantic building with a beautiful glass domed roof is large enough to hold a football field in the grand hall where they hold fashion shows, art exhibits and concerts.  Next we walked through a hidden garden and over a gilded bridge to Les Invalides, the golden dome of Napoleon's tomb as well as a museum dedicated to the military.  Originally the building was a hospital and retirement center for war veterans - literally "invalids" due to their military service.   

Just one street over, "The Muse" (that's our professor from Boston) took us to his favorite spot in the city - the Rodin Museum.  Rodin was a sculpture who, unlike most suffering artist, was well known, appreciated and quite wealthy in his day.  His estate and gardens have been turned into a museum of his works and it only cost 1 Euro to tour his sculptures on the grounds!  You might best remember him for his work, "The Thinker."  We learned that early on in his career he was so talented at creating life-like sculptures, that critics claimed he was simply taking a mold of a person and not creating it by hand.  That led him to making his later works more "characterized" but also made him a more distinct and prominent sculpture in the long run.

Our final stop for the day was the original and half-sized Statue of Liberty.  If you remember, the Statue of Liberty that stands as a beacon of the United States in New York harbor was actually a gift from the French during the Revolutionary War.  

We had a long walk back to the metro along the river.  The sun was shining and their was a slight breeze, making it the most beautiful day we've had yet!  We're now home in our cozy apartment, just ate a delicious fresh fruit salad and Burke gave up on the reading and is playing games on the Touch.  I'm coming my love!  Just wanted to let you know I felt so perfectly content and happy today, but more than seeing amazing things is being with my wonderful husband.  He brings me so much joy and I never get tired of being with him!  So now...I'm off to be with him.  Love to you all!