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We spent the day before departure for Japan visiting the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles. There were many familiar pictures at the Louvre that I’d seen in an art textbook. It was hard to believe that I was seeing the real ones. Among them, the Mona Lisa was particularly prominent. It was excessively protected by glass, rope and a few guards. I couldn’t see it close enough because of the rope and I had the sense that I wasn’t seeing it directly because of the glass. I also felt too nervous to look at it long enough because of the stern guards. The Mona Lisa produced tense atmosphere as if it told us to go away as soon as possible. The Palace of Versailles was breathtaking. I walked down the Hall of Mirrors. I’d never seen such an overwhelmingly gorgeous and beautiful room in my life. Before I set off on this trip, I had always wanted my first overseas travel destination to be America. When my father booked a package tour of Europe, I decided to go with the American way. I left in sweatshirts because I had dismissed the European elegant fashion as snobby. Now, I was paying the price for my wrong protest against my father at the Palace of Versailles. I was ashamed of walking around the Hall of Mirrors in a sweatshirt and a miniskirt. Imagining Marie Antoinette used to walk here in her gown, I felt sorry for her. The dinner of that day was a farewell party as it was the last dinner that the tour members had together. It was a formal course meal at a fancy restaurant. I just couldn’t go there in what I was wearing, and I didn’t pack anything dressy in my bag either. I hurried to a department store before leaving for the restaurant and bought a dress shirt and a lipstick, which were all I could afford for the formal dinner. From the moment I sat at the table, I couldn’t help feeling so sad. Other tour members had become good friends of mine and I had a crush on the tour attendant, but I would never see them again after tomorrow. Two days later, I would start college I didn’t want to attend because I was denied by all the universities I hoped to get in. I was completely swept away by a strong feeling that I didn’t want to return to Japan, that is to say, reality…
