Day 48: The Day I Tried to be Zen

This morning I went on a field trip with my class to the Bois de Vincennes which is a giant forest on the outskirts of Paris in the 12th arrondissement. The Bois de Vincennes was first used in 1931 to house a giant colonial exhibition which was super racist and offensive and resulted in huge huts being built for no real purpose after the 6 month exposition was over. 

The first thing that we visited were some giant African huts which were used to showcase certain African colonies during the original exhibition but now were converted Buddhist temples. The first temple was the equivalent of a nondenominational Buddhist temple where all different types of Buddhism were accommodated. It's also home to the largest Buddha in all of Europe. It was a very peaceful place and we learned what each of the symbols inside represented. The coolest thing was when they talked about rainbows representing impermanence because they're so fleeting.

We then went to a Tibetan Buddhist temple where the Dalai Llama visits when he is in France (there were pictures to prove it). This temple was also beautiful although way more cluttered with candles and offerings and artwork.  We also had to take our shoes off to go inside which was my favorite part.

After the temples we went to the Palais de Porte Doree which is now the Museum of Immigration but was once the building that represented France in the colonial exhibition. The entire front facade of the building is a giant bas-relief (when stone is sculpted so that all that is left is the artwork). The bas-relief represents all of the colonies and their contribution to France (rice, coco, coffee, oil, rubber, etc.). Once inside there is this giant room that has a mural on the walls that represents all of the things France brought to the colonies (peace, liberty, science, work ethic, and other super ethnocentric things). The inside of the museum was pretty awesome and there was even an aquarium (which I didn't go to because it was pretty expensive).

This was the end of the trip so afterwards I decided to spend my second to last day wandering my favorite area instead of trying to cross things off my list last minute. So I walked around the Marais and bought myself some gelato and ate it in the Place des Vosges and just acted like a Parisian and just enjoyed where I was sitting: the warm sun, the fountains, the grass until a bunch of pigeons flew toward me and I practically ran away. I kind of then accepted that I'm not much of a zen person, especially not in a big city. So I shopped around and found this awesome book store with super cheap used books.

Then tonight we decided to head back to the Fete des Tuileries where we watched all of the carnival rides (because we don't have 10 euro to drop on a ferris wheel ride, no exaggeration). It was really beautiful especially at sunset. We then wandered around the jardin and found some great seats by a fountain with the carnival in the background. It was a great spot and so beautiful until the wind picked up and the fountain splashed us right in the faces. All in all, it was one of the best ways to spend my second to last night in Paris.