Art, Bars, and Injuries

It will probably be more interesting to start with the third topic of my title. Injuries. Besides the massive bruise in my ass that continually gets blacker and bluer as the days go on, I now have a new injury to add to the list: a massive burn on my arm. As I was sick and tired of the crappy hair appliances the french use, I sucked it up and bought a nice curling iron. Considering Monica and I live in a closet, it is no surprise to anybody that we have barely any counter space in our bathroom, kitchen, or anywhere else. Long story short, iron fell off tiny counter and landed smack on my arm. So now, my tailbone hurts, my bruises look like something kicked my ass (literally), and I look like a burner (rather than a cutter). I almost had a subsequent injury this morning on my run as a 3 year old nearly crashed into me on her scooter, however my cat-like reflexes allowed me to dodge the collision. 

Moving forward to the "Bars" subject. Nearly everyday, the ladies and myself walk past Corcorans's, an irish pub near the ACCENT office. We always say how we should go, but we usually never do. Last night changed our unlucky streak. We packed our things and trekked the few blocks to Corcoran's, which was filled with wild Parisians (without smoke, thank god) and our Milwaukee friends! Christine had a dance-off with a Parisian, and although he whipped out some homestyle breakdance moves, I'd like to think Christine won. The night ended with lots of nutella-clad bread. I really need to stop drunk eating..

Going even further back in time...let's talk about art and bones. Firstly, the Louvre. Pretty cool, pretty big. The Louvre is divided into 3 sections: Sully, Denon, and Richelieu. It took us 3 1/2 hours just to get through 2 floors of Sully, so I know I'll be making several trips back. The Louvre is too massive and extensive to comprehend. I wish the explanations listed for the exhibits were given in English, considering my creative mind will usually come up with gross or inappropriate descriptions for each painting. Moral of the story, the Louvre is awesome and I can't wait to go back. 

The bones part of this section has to deal with the Catacombs. By the 17th century, Paris had a shortage of burial grounds for the increasing dead population (due to the general increase in population as a whole). Eventually, the sanitary conditions were too horrible because the dead bodies were contaminating the well water the people drank from. The solution to this sanitation problem was moving the dead bodies to unused underground mines, which are where the Catacombs currently reside. Neatly arranged and freely available to touch, the 6 million bodies in the Catacombs are both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. It takes 130 steps to climb down underneath the metro system to access them. With Courtney and I leaded, the pack and I headed through the extensive tunnel system until we reached the bones. We got reallll close and personal with these new dead buddies of ours.