Today was my class field trip to a historic section of Paris which is called le Marais (mer-ay) and is located in the 3rd and 4th arrondisements. Right next to le Notre Dame and in the heart of Paris, le marais is one of the most historical neigborhoods in Paris. Because Paris used to end right before this neighborhood and the jewish community was forbidden from living in Paris in the 15th century, this was where they all settled down. For that reason there is a huge jewish presence in le marais. We began our trip at the memorial for the martyrs of the holocaust which is a museum right behind the Notre Dame which nobody knows about because it is underground. The memorial is very simple and somber which delivers an even more poignant message. You walk down stone steps designed like those in a concentration camp and everything from there on out mimics a camp. From the cells to the uneven ground, every small detail of this memorial evokes pretty deep emotion.
After the memorial we walked through le marais to a mansion called l’hotel sully which is the part of the marais that I did a project on. I was able to do my project in the courtyard and garden of the mansion which was very cool because I felt like a tour guide and tourists probably thought I was since I was speaking in french. I also felt pretty legit because I had done a lot of research so I was able to speak about every part of the architecture and the history of the mansion which are the types of topics I never research at Uconn.
We then continued through the courtyard of the hotel Sully which is a shortcut to the Place des Vosges (plahce day voj) which is a square of buildings which encloses a beautiful courtyard with fountains and grass and trees. This is also where Victor Hugo lived while he wrote his most famous works (Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame). We walked through his apartment and realized that while he might have understood the plights of the poor, he definitely didn’t live like Fantine and Eponine.
We ended our tour on le Rue de Rosiers which is the most famous road in le marais with great shopping and the best falafels in Paris (and they claim the world). The falafels were actually pretty good considering I’m a super picky eater and I could definitely eat more if I modified the ingredients.
I then redeemed myself shopping in le marais because these sales are AMAZING. I even got Pearl Harbor on DVD for $5 which I ended up watching on the 5 hour ride to Normandy.
We arrived at Normandy at 9:30 and we had a decent dinner of chicken and potatoes that I could probably have made myself. Our hotel room fits 6 people in 3 bunk beds. We also found out that this “castle” was built in the early 1800’s and has great historical significance which is cool EXCEPT THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE WAS THAT IT WAS A NAZI CAMP. So we are sitting in our room right now trying to fall asleep which is impossible because Goebbels stayed in this “castle”. Nazi’s literally were in this bedroom. I couldn't fall asleep. It’s creepy.
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