(Don't) Forget Paris

Welcome back, loyal followers. After quite the delay (sorry, I've been really busy), we have returned, with more content than ever! In this blog post, all three days of Paris will be compressed in to one slideshow of extreme vacation concentration. Have fun!

I think you know what this one is...

Fun fact: when it was first built, the Eiffel Tower was supposed to be temporary. Not only that, but the Parisians hated it, calling it things like "the monster asparagus". Only after it was used as a highly effective radio tower in World War II did the citizens come to accept it and preserve it.

This is a cathedral built for King Louis the Fourteenth. The king once complained that he didn't like going to church at the same place as everyone else, and so this magnificent cathedral was born. He used it literally four times.

Fun fact (unrelated to this picture): Louis the Fourteenth was considered to be, on the whole, a good king. However, he had something of an ego, especially concerning his impressive calf muscles. He would wear tights and display his legs prominently in any photo taken of him. This, combined with his four-inch high heels (since nobody could be taller than the king), made for a highly feminine appearance.

We took a Segway tour throughout the city. I'm not sure why, but our main methods of transportation seem to be Segways and bikes.

The actual Mona Lisa, on display at the Louvre.

More Louvre artwork, this time in the "Americas" section.

If anyone can tell me what the heck this is and why it looks like Jesus with chicken legs, I would be happy to know.

It strikes me as odd how the people depicted in these statues can go into battle with a sword at their side, and still completely neglect to wear pants.

The famous Venus de Milo.

Next to this building is the world's first (and for a while, one of the most popular) chocolate factories. Once, there were booths all over town selling samples of this chocolate. Additionally, the owner of the factory was very generous, so he built a whole village of houses for his factory's workers. 

The Chateau of Champs-Sur-Marne. It has had a diverse history- it's been passed down through many generations, sold, bought back, sold again, and eventually preserved by the government. One former owner supposedly sold it to pay off gambling debts- in the words of our tour guide (loosely), "I don't know how much you would have to gamble to lose a chateau, but it would be a lot."

The chateau had a beautiful garden out back. Many of the garden's trees were trimmed into perfect rectangles.

This is a lot of garden.

Notre Dame cathedral.

Thanks for reading!

Aidan's Greek Myths

Episode 6: Hermes, Hera, and Iris, part 1

Hera, queen of Olympus, had to keep a constant watch on her husband Zeus. This was because Zeus frequently took other wives, many of them mortals, and Hera was very jealous of this. Apollo and Artemis, twin children of Zeus and Leto, were almost not born due to the queen's wrath- more on that later.

This meant bad news for Hermes, son of Zeus. This god of travelers and thieves was hidden away in a cave from an early age, much like his father, to avoid Hera's punishment.

One day, though- in fact, the very day Hermes was born- he snuck out of the cave to cause mischief. He soon came across Apollo's herd of sacred cows, and started to hatch a plan to steal them.

To be continued...