Change in the Weather, Change in Plans

Wednesday, July 2: Today we were supposed to do our daytime Paris bike ride. A forecast of rain beginning at midday made us switch and do Friday’s planned events instead. (The Day ride is rescheduled for Friday.) We broke up into 2 groups, students interspersed with faculty/staff, and headed off in the morning to either to a tour of the Musèe Picasso with Bonnie Hayes or a Left Bank Literary Walking Tour, led by Bill Meiers. After lunch, each group switched and did the other tour.

I went with Group “A” to the Musèe Picasso in the morning. Bonnie gave a brilliant tour and shed great light on Picasso’s life and work. After a delicious lunch of falafel from L’as du Fallafel on Rue Rosiers (around the corner from the Musèe Picasso), we headed over to Ponts des Arts bridge to begin our afternoon Left Bank tour. Bill gave us the history of famous writers who lived and wrote on the Left Bank, and read us poetry and exerpts from their works. We saw houses of Oscar Wilde and George Sand, famous cafes such as Café le Procope, Les Deux Magots and Brasserie Lipp. We toured the interiors of St. Germain-des-Prés and St. Sulpice, and we did lots of window shopping, looking into the unique clothing and furnishing stores, and art galleries. We also had a chance encounter with a major celebrity during the tour—the students will blog on that later!
- Sue Gettlin


The Latin Quarter was amazing. St. Sulpice was massive and it was interesting to see people’s reaction to the “Rose-Line.” There was a man on the floor for a while with a tripod set up to capture the line. Just beyond his vantage point were articles and statements made by the Church and writers in response to the claims made by “The DaVinci Code” about the Church and the Rose-Line. The contrast was interesting to see, but the Church itself was the treasure to me.
- Jacqueline Cash


Despite the wet weather, we had an eventful day. We visited the Picasso Museum, which was my favorite part of the day. The highlight was seeing “Still Life with Chair Caning” in person. The Walking Tour of the Left Bank was very informative. Enjoyed most St. Sulpice with its murals and decorative altars and chapels.
- Kajette Bloomfield


This morning was a literary tour of Paris led by Bill Myers. I really enjoyed hearing Bill recite “suggestive” poetry in and around the locations in which the poems where originally written. It really helped me to understand how a writer’s environment can inspire and influence his literary work.
- Matt Bauer

Too Many Choices
Besides having trouble finding a restaurant for dinner (too many amazing choices), see actor Owen Wilson (yep, right there in front of me on a street corner in the Left Bank) and almost being run over by a Vespa scooter, I’m having more fun than I ever imagined!!
- Maya Stewart

Shown above: Professor Bonnie Hayes in the Picasso Musuem; Shaina McAndrews, Brittany McCall and Scott Richards in St. Sulpice; group receiving introduction to the Picasso Musuem; Professor Bill Meiers leading Left Bank tour.

View the day's photos