Blog 2

I recognized the Eiffel tower, Ile de la Cite, and Notre-Dame de Paris.
I learned about Jardin du Palais Royal, Montemarte, and Pont Alexandre III.

I want to visit the Eiffel tower, the Palace of Versailles, the Fontainebleau forest, and Notre-Dame de Paris. The Eiffel Tower was the tallest man-made structure when it was erected in 1889, and was originally meant for the world fair of 1889. I've never had a chance to see it in real life, only in pictures and written language, which why I want to see it with my own eyes one day. The Palace of Versailles is mainly known for sheltering the French royal family after Louis XIV decided to move the royal court to it. Up until today, I never knew that the palace had a seemingly infinite view over the surrounding lands, and I myself was extremely tempted to appreciate the view in real life after learning about it. Notre-Dame de Paris is a famous Paris cathedral, known for its unique architectural style and the exquisitely crafted stained glass panels. I read a book titled "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" when I was young, and it was about the construction of an enormous medieval cathedral. It was mainly consisted of drawings of the complication process required to build a grand cathedral, and the finished result looked almost exactly like the Notre-Dame cathedral of Paris. I always wanted to visit the imaginary cathedral in the book, and after discovering the similarities between the two cathedrals, I guess now I want to visit Notre-Dame de Paris. Fontainebleau is a forest in which you can choose to do various activities, such as horseback riding or rock climbing. The first time I went horseback riding, I was 6, and a nice horse gave me a calm ride through some grass patches. The second time I went horseback riding, I was 10, and a sadistic horse kept trying to throw me off and make me fall on my head. I was too scared to go horseback riding after that, but a slow ride in the forest would be quite nice. It might not be that nice if you get that one super-sadistic horse that keeps trying to run you into sharp branches, but I'm willing to take my chances.

Notre-Dame de Paris

I would like to eat an escargot, which is basically a cooked snail. It probably tastes alright, but I'm always pretty reluctant to try something new, especially if it's something you might see crawling on every imaginable surface near your home, so I'm going to try just one. The first time I tried a macaron was when I was 8, I remember thinking, "Wow, if I was trapped in an infinitely large cell filled with these, I would actually be okay with that." That was seriously the first thought I had after putting it in my mouth. One last food item I want to try would be McDonald french fries from France, since then I could say "Hey, once I ate French french fries," and the other person would be like "Huh?" and I would be like "I ate French french fries," and we would repeat this over and over again until the person finally figured out what it meant.

As I mentioned previously, I want to try horseback riding in Fontainebleau forest, even though it might be a bit dangerous. I also want to try rock climbing, hopefully without breaking a major bone in my body since that wouldn't go too nicely with my injured knee.

Horseback riding in Fontainebleau

I would like to learn more about the ex-French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. I used to really like his quote when I was young, "The word impossible is not in my dictionary," but then I accidentally ruined the quote for myself one day. I used my childish reasoning to ask my mom, "Well, mom, could Napoleon fly through the sky?" She replied by saying something like "No, sweetie, but you're missing the point, . . ." but I didn't hear her since I was celebrating in triumph, happy that I had proved an emperor wrong.

Napoleon portrait

I would like to attend the celebration on Bastille day, to see how the French people celebrate their revolution. It would be quite interesting.