I'm sitting here realizing that I only have two days left in Paris. If someone can tell me where the last four months went, I'd appreciate it. It feel like yesterday I was writing in this blog about how excited I was to go and how much I still had to do before I left. Four months seemed like a decent chunk of time then, and now it just seems like a blip. There are people and things in my life that make it (not in a bad way) seem like a lot longer, but really I'll be sitting in Denmark at this time in 3 days (Let's all cross our fingers the ash cloud doesn't leave me stuck in Paris, homeless).
Last week was really a blur. I usually look back at my facebook/twitter statuses to figure out what exactly happened each day, but according to them all I did was count down to Ellie's arrival and study. Tuesday I had my French final. I thought it was going to be awful, but it really wasn't. Wednesday I had my art class. whoo hoo. Then that night Maggie and I went to eat at breakfast in America, veggie wrap, dr. pepper, chips/salsa, and a milkshake for dessert = success (I know, I know, I talk about food a lot...whatever :p). I think it was this night that I started packing, I know, exciting. I had 65-70 pages to read for my International Relations class so much of the week was taken up ATTEMPTING, and mostly failing, at reading that. I did get it done, finally, though. Thursday my friend Kat that is studying in England got into Paris with her friends, so I grabbed lunch with them before letting my homework take back over my life. I finally finished that and the 58+ pages of notes I did on the book around 2 am that morning. Sometimes I really do try too hard. Friday I had class, the last one of my Junior year. No biggie. Then I cam home and packed. I got almost everything packed surprisingly, and now I'm trying to fit the last things, that's what is always hard.
Saturday was so much fun. We got up super early to go to Giverny. If you haven't looked at my pics on facebook you should definitely check them out. Giverny is where Monet's home and beautiful gardens are. It was slightly complicated to get there because we missed the first train by like a minute, but we grabbed a coffee and waited for the next. After the forty minute train ride with obnoxious children, we took a 10 minute bus. The gardens were just absolutely amazing. I cannot even describe how pretty it was. We saw the lily pad pond where he painted, his home, and all the thousands of flowers. After we went through the gift shop (post cards of course) and then went to find food. From there we just wandered for a while until we found this cute little cafe type local restaurant. This old French man comes up to us to talk to us and when I walk up he gets this funny look on his face, "You close your eyes when you sleep?" he asked me. I of course replied "yes." And he responded, "Well if I had eyes like those I'd never close them." So cute! Haha. Someone has competition :p After we just wandered some more before waiting for the bus to take us back to the train, to take us home. After Sasha and I packed a little more and got ready for dinner and then to go out. Going out was quite the adventure. We started at the Charlotte Bar, definitely a place I'll miss, and then tried to go to a hookah lounge but it was too full so we tried to kill time at 2 different bars before, against my will, going to a guy's apartment to have a glass (or plastic cup) of wine. Finally, we escaped there and went back to the hookah lounge. All of us girls (Mannat, Sasha, Maggie, and I) had Mojito Teas...instead of soda there was iced tea in them. We also got to try Moroccan tea, which was amazing. The hookah was fun, I hadn't done that since Russia. Not a habit, just an occasional good time. From there we went to the Highlander, a Scottish pub, it was strange because you had to be like silent while you stood outside. I'm guessing they got a lot of neighbor complaints. By this time we were all pretty exhausted, I mean it was like 3 am? Julien, Sasha's cousin, bought Mannat, Maggie, and I Coronas because the credit card minimum was 15 euros. He doesn't drink and just wanted a coke. We tried to pay him back and he refused. It's nice to interact with nice people on occasion. After Eddy drove all of us girls home and I think I passed out around 4:30. At first a rough night, but it ended up being a pretty good time.
On Sunday morning I woke up to skype, like actually video skype, FINALLY with someone. Ellie's flight was supposed to be in super early, but thanks to the stupid volcano, she was delayed. I got to sleep a bit more which was nice though. I met her around 2 I think finally? We met up with Mannat, got Ellie into her hotel, and then we all grabbed some lunch. There really isn't much to do, at all, on Sundays. I had bought tickets to a hip hop show, but it was at that point impossible to make it, stupid volcano. After trying to get Ellie a naviGo for the metro, and failing, we parted ways for a bit for showers and naps. That night we went to the Frog & Princess with Maggie and Sasha. It was actually a lot of fun. It was their quiz night, and minus the creepy-ass guys next to us staring at us, we had fun. Part of it was a beer chugging contest, a half pint. Yeah guess who got nominated for that one? Jenn v. 10 guys. I didn't really stand a chance. And the beer was gross. I'm a dark beer kinda girl ;) They actually put peach mix into the dark beer I had and Ellie had cherry, it was delicious. I don't know quite when we headed out from there but after we just headed home.
I had my international relations final on Monday afternoon so I met Ellie for a crepe and to go to the mall for some errands before it. My final was kind of ridiculous. I wrote 12 pages in 2 hours. The last couple of which, SUCKED. Oh well. That night we ate dinner at the apartment along with Eddy. Dany was showing off like no other. She had champagne and wine for us, yeah we never get that. We ate these barnacle things that kind of looked like snails at first, they weren't terrible, but I'd be okay not eating them again. Can say I tried it, I guess, at least. We also had fish. So my body was on a seafood overload. Ugh I need to detox from all the seafood when I get home. So sick of bones in fish. Eww. After, Ellie and I went to a cafe around the corner and had a drink and just talked. I swear she and I could sit and talk forever. It's really nice having someone from home here, someone who knows what point I was at before I left, and knows how good this experience has been for me.
Tuesday we tried to go to Musee D'Orsay, only to get there and find like a 2 hour line. And it was raining and cold. Where is the summer weather, Paris?!? We went to Notre Dame instead and then I showed her Shakespeare & Co. bookstore. Ugh I'll miss that place. Favorite bookstore ever. After, we went to the catacombs. It started pouring and neither of us had an umbrella of course, but luckily this super nice couple behind us had a huge one and invited us under. They clearly weren't French. We finally figured out they were German. We waited about a half hour or so and finally made it in. I'm glad I got to go back because the catacombs really are one of my favorite things here. After we grabbed lunch at PanHel (Sandwiches), then went to ABS to return my book before dinner. Dinner was Maggie, Ellie, Dany, and I. Dany still was showing off some, but not AS bad as the night before. She went on a racist rant about immigrants, which was awesome, NOT. Then I attempted to study the night away, ending up on skype. But finals were really a waste of time, though International Relations stressed me out a bit.
The next morning I crammed some more for my final before heading off. The teacher told us it was only art pieces in the book, yeah she lied. It still wasn't as bad as the midterm, but none of us were particularly impressed. After I met up with Ellie and we (I) grabbed lunch and we mailed our post cards. Last night was the ISA farewell dinner so unfortunately we didn't have much time to do anything. I went back, took a nap, and got ready. Dinner was less than fabulous. Their version of "vegetarian" dish was pasta with salmon. Awesome, more seafood. I gave away the salmon and attempted to give the pasta some flavor with a ton of salt and pepper. Before that we had goat cheese salad, which was actually pretty good. The dinner took like 3 hours almost though so I missed going to the movies with Maggie & Ellie. BUMMED. But I went home to make Maggie her birthday card and just hang out, finals are more exhausting then I had realized.
Today is Maggie's birthday so we got up early to go to Musee D'Orsay, but she wanted to go to church first so we'll hopefully head to the museum soon. From there some pictures by the Eiffel Tower are necessary and dinner with friends for sushi and Le Bar 10 for one last sangria outing. I cannot believe I have a day and a half left in Paris. All my stuff is nearly packed on my bed and I still don't think I'm leaving.
I will miss some things about this place. I'll miss my roommates and having them to vent about life with. I'll miss Maggie and my cafe dates for drinks to freak out about our futures and just talk about life in general. I'll miss the crazy people talking to themselves walking down the streets and in the metros. I'll miss fresh bread and cheese at dinner, having a glass of wine when going out. I'll miss that there is always something to do here, even if we decide to just stay in and watch a movie. I won't miss the horrid smell of the metro, but I'll miss how convenient it is. I will miss just worrying about me. But that will be more so when I go back to the states. I'll miss the freedom of not worrying about so much. Though I hate money, hate asking my parents for it, I will miss not having to work.
But I guess this is just another short chapter coming to a close in my life. I really just cannot comprehend that it's over. And more than that, I'm a senior in college now. Where did the last not just 4 months, but 3 years go. I appreciate life so much more after being here. I appreciate the things I have back home and the opportunities I've made for myself. I miss my family. I miss my Gramp so, so, much. It's hard to not even be able to call. I miss my friends. I miss you. But even with all the struggles here, this has been the absolute best thing I could have done for myself. I was not in a good place mentally before I left, and going back, I feel stronger, a whole hell of a lot more confident, and just overall, happier. No matter what happens when I get home, I just don't want to lose how I feel about life now.
On that note, I'm going to go enjoy my last day and a half here and make the best of it. Oh and try to somehow fit the rest of my stuff in my suitcases....hmmm.
Next time I update will be from Denmark <3
Au Revoir.
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