"Paris is a hard place to leave, even when it rains incessantly and one coughs continually from the dampness." - Willa Cather

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Autumn must officially be here in Paris and (even though I was freezing today and entirely under-prepared for the change in weather), I was appreciative of being here to see it. Yesterday we wandered through Pere Lachaise, the famous cemetery. This might sound morbid and weird, but it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. And I snapped about a hundred pictures that instantly became my absolute favorite photos that I've ever taken.

And today I got to experience Paris in the fall--in all it's glory--because we went on a day trip to the Palace of Versailles. Most of the morning and afternoon were spent outside and it was frigid. The palace itself is completely over the top, decorated in Baroque style, with gilded everything and portraits of the monarchy plastered on every square inch of available wall space.  The gardens and the palace grounds were also over the top, but in a beautiful (not tacky) way. It's no wonder to me that there was a French Revolution--royalty lived in complete excess in every aspect of their lives, while their subjects didn't even have food to eat.

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By far, my favorite part of Versailles was being able to walk through Marie Antoinette's private home and grounds. And I was really glad that I had spent an hour reading about her on Wikipedia the night before (where would I be without you Wikipedia?), otherwise I wouldn't have had any clue as to what her story really was. And it is a very interesting story.

Dead tired after all that walking, I came back to the apartment and crashed for about an hour. Then, just before sunset, we packed up some Heinekens, cheese and baguettes (our dinner) and headed out to Eiffel Tower. There is a long, wide grassy area were everyone (typically tourists) come to picnic, drink wine and watch the Tower's light show every hour after about 8:00. It's a lot cheaper than going out to the bars for drinks and is just as much (if not more) fun. Staring in awe at the Tower never seems to get old, the people watching is excellent, and I can't get over the fact that you can take wine (or any alcohol) with you anywhere and nobody cares. I keep feeling like I'm doing something illegal...but I'm not...and it rocks! :-)

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Tomorrow it has officially been one week here. I'm beginning to feel less intimidated by the language as well as the people. I think I've got the Metro system down to a science. I've learned to walk like the French, like I know exactly where I'm going (even if I don't) and like a brick wall that's not moving for anybody. But I'm also beginning to feel quite homesick for Bryan and Toby, my house and my friends. And boneless buffalo wings, definitely. In a way, I'm sad that I only have three days left...there is so much to fall in love with here. But-- I'm more in love with home. :-)