What Do Plage, Versailles, and Karaoke Have in Common?

After a long day on the 16th, we pretty much all relaxed on the beach (plage). Since Honfleur is where the river Seine meets the English Channel, I am not really sure what body of water I was swimming in. Regardless, it was beautiful and so refreshing. A couple group members had birthdays so we went out to celebrate and that was a lot of fun.

On July 17th, we woke up early to catch a 9am bus to Versailles only to discover that Dr. Davis accidently changed the time to 11am. So, we had class and it was so disappointing. But we eventually made it to Versailles and it really wasn't that crowded. It was so majestic and ostentatious. When you drive up to the Palais, and when you walk through its halls, you start to understand why the people of France revolted. Everything is way too large and overdone. But of course, everything is beautiful.

I could have spent hours in the Hall of Mirrors. This is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 to end World War I. I thought that impact of history would crush me. It was too much to know the history involved in one, huge yet singular, room. The gardens were ostentatious as well and so grand! When you looked out over the grounds from the palais you thought you were looking at woods, but really the woods were several labyrinths woven together. It was nice walking around with Dr. Davis because he knew the grounds better than myself and was able to direct Susan and I as we explored.

Right as we were entering the bus to drive back to Honfleur it started to storm. We drove back through pouring rain but it was really cool to experience a storm. Last night there was thunder and lightening, so we have pretty much experienced it all here on the coast.

Tonight, myself and Dr. Davis' wife, Maggie, plus other group members went to a bar that was hosting karaoke. It was not what we expected. Honfleur used to have a man named Mr. Melody who hosted karaoke whenever Dr. Davis and his group showed up. Mr. Melody has since left Honfleur for bigger and better things so we tried out a new place. This place was cramped and the staff were grumpy. None the less, we all sang American pop songs and pleased the small crowd. I sang "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls with my new from Laura and we were SO bad! But it was pretty fun.

We are all back at the house now falling asleep and watching "One Fine Day." I never thought George Clooney was anything special, but he is pretty dishy in this movie. Tomorrow is a down day. We don't have any class until Monday (WAHOO!) but we may travel by bus to Deauville for some nightlife. There is a charming market in Honfleur tomorrow, so hopefully we are able to check that out.

BTW - Don't forget the Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale. It's the most wonderful timeeeee of the yearrrr!