sunday: paris, day 3

i got 4.5 hours of sleep this morning. thankfully, nicolas was incredibly understand about the key- he responded the most ideal way, and the cost to replace was only three euros. deanna and i headed to meet katie at notre dame for a morning mass, and explained all that happened. katie lent me plenty of money to tide me over for a while- talk about finding out who your friends are, both girls totally shone in the midst of this drama and pain.

mass was lovely! we attended the last one of the morning, and had front row seats in the center. they definitely modify all masses because of the fame- for example, there were no bars to kneel on during mass, so no kneeling whatsoever. instead of finding the readings and hymns in the appropriate books, everything was printed in a bulletin, southern protestant style, to follow easily (really convenient). i was bummed i couldn't (honestly) receive Communion because i'm not catholic, but i was glad to be prayed over and blessed by the deacon anyways. i love taking Communion- having to come authentically to God, in whatever state i am, to remember and honor the very real sacrifice of Christ that has forever changed the world and myself. we spent another hour wandering around and admiring the cathedral before hopping the train to versailles.

we arrived in the perfect ammount of time to see everything our ticket could pay for. we saw the entire grand palace in 2.5 hours. the most intriguing thing being the bed of the queens, where marie antoinette had slept and 19 royal children were birthed. the hall of mirrors, famed for tons of ornate crystal chandeliers and mirros, was beautiful; the military history wings through floor to celing pictures was cool too. then we frolicked in the rightfully famed gardens for another 2.5 hours and headed back.

katie left back for rennes, and then deanna, nicolas and i hung out for a couple hours before crashing on his sleeper-sofa.