Francey Pants: "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs." Rudyard Kipling

Just after class today, Emily and I headed over to the palace to see if we could catch a glimpse of Sarkozy in shame and mourning. Or at least try to see Carla Bruni walking through the courtyard looking elegant or something. We didn't, but there were tons of news crews there doing the exact same thing. As part of one of our assigned walks called "Place de la concorde: the Guillotine and more," (Walk 5) I got my first glimpse of the Arc de Triomphe, and it looks just like it does in the movies. I saw the statue of Charles de Gaulle and learned about how much he has shaped modern day France (personally I think they could have shaped his statue a little better. Have you guys seen that thing?) After walking on a street which houses some of the most expensive hotels in Paris, we ended up in Place de la Concorde. The home of the guillotine during the revolution. After making a few irreverent jokes about losing my head, I sat there and thought about how many people actually did lose their heads during the revolution. It was really an eerie and sad feeling. It's amazing to me that almost an entire population of people became so radical and so poisoned in their minds that things like that were able to happen. The walk then took us through the beautiful and light-hearted Tuileries gardens, which I found a weird contrast of feelings. But the gardens were very nice. All the gardens in Paris are very kept and organized. The French obsession with man conquering nature.
I did another walk by myself (Walk 9) which took me to "La Bourse," the french stockmarket. That place was crazy today, I'm assuming it has something to do with the fact that just the day before the country elected a socialist president. I also walked through the covered passage shops and saw some more beautiful gardens.
On my walk home I leaned over the wall and just looked at the Seine for the longest time. There was an accordion player behind me. I keep forgetting that I'm living in Paris, and little moments like these remind me.
Family home evening tonight was fascinating. Professer Welch from BYU was here to talk about his work on discovering symbolism in the parable of the Good Samaritan and its depiction in the window at Chartres. I felt like Robert Langdon's student being told about all these little clues that revealed something monumental about this masterpiece. Read his article here, it is well worth your time:
http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=985

Rachel, Heather, Fran and I walked around Paris last night, got gelato etc. Because of the bad weather I haven't really been out at night much. Paris is a different city at night. It is incredible.