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Bateaux a Voiles
Aux jardins des tuileries
Oh it's been a long few weeks!! Afters Reims I was able to relax for a while and get into the final swing of ending the semester. The last few weeks were a bit boring but I'm doing as much as possible in my last 3 weeks left 😞
That Thursday I went to the qualification round of the French Open at Roland Garros, which was very worth it! I had a great time and got to take a picture with one of the winning tennis players, Rick de Voest from South Africa. Friday I had some people over for a small dinner get together and watched Office Space, followed by Breakfast In America the next day. A small American Diner in the Bastille, it was nice to get a good omelette, but it still had a European feel haha. I had to work on a project that was due on Monday presenting the Treaty of Lisbon and other EU amendment explanations for my economics class. Needless to say it took a lot of preparation! That night a few more friends came over and we made a cute little 'french' dinner and went out to the Bastille area (finally!) Sunday
Metro Performers
The large gypsy band I worked on the EU project as well as a paper for the same class on the French social security and healthcare system and why it would fail in America. A bit of a bold topic, but after working on it the entire day I was nice to get it finished. Monday I was terrified of presenting because the French professors are a bit ruthless when it comes to explaining how you did, but it ended up alright. Tuesday, I went to the usual Frog and Princess student nights with some new people and had a good time. Wednesday I experienced the french healthcare system firsthand with a friend, long story but everything was ok. A friend from class was leaving the program early, so to celebrate her send off we went to our favorite 10 spot in Odeon and ended up taking it to Place d'Italie for some great ambiance with instruments on the wall and French friends with my Suedoises (Swedish) friend. The next day I enjoyed some sleep and went to Elizabeths for a much needed Mexican food party. I miss Mexican food a lot, almost as much as In N Out burgers and good sushi! I
Noces
Rousseau
walked by a cute violin strings shop, and felt pretty nostalgic for something I used to love. If I only had time, but I have to remind myself that I can't do everything all the time, but maybe later I'll be able to pick it up again.
Saturday I took the TEF (Test d'Evaluation Francais), basically the french equivalency of the TOEFL for non-native english speakers. It had the format of the SAT though, with passages and fill in the blank synomyms. The results will be returned in a couple of weeks and I will see supposedly what level they put me in. French companies and schools use the results for evaluating your french capabilities and perhaps it will come in handy later! We'll see. I went to a cafe and bookstore to debrief after the 3 hour long test with my Swedish friend, and came home to get ready for Cafe Oz, an Australian place at Chatelet we've been meaning to go to. After an interesting wait in line, we got in and had a good time, until I hurt my foot and it took us forever to get home. I don't know why it's always my left
Cafe Oz
Elizabeth and I.. before I hurt my foot haha foot (like in Portugal on the bus haha) but it recovered nonetheless. Sunday, Elizabeth and I went for brunch at the Breakfast in America diner and I took advantage of free museum sunday.
Each first sunday of the month, the French government sponsors the national and city museums to be free. So Sunday, I went down near the Louvre and visited the Musee de l'Orangerie which has the Nympheas of Monet. Two large oval rooms spread his canvases across them with these decadent paintings of Giverny countryside. Sitting in the middle bench was the best view to take it all in, the colors, texture, and flow of scenery with no boundaries of walls. The lower collection was perhaps one of my favorite in Paris though! There were classicism and impressionism painters, a lot I hadn't heard of, but I always enjoy finding new paintings to immerse myself in. The Picassos were bizarre as usual, but I really liked Henri-Julien Felix Rousseau and Modigliani (don't know if it's spelled correctly). After the museum I strolled through the Jardin des Tuileries, which as I learned in my architecture class, were constructed by Catherine de Medicis as part of the original fortress
Louvre. The little fountain with small sail boats were by far my favorite part of the gardens. I hobbled home to change for mass, and met up with a friend and went to her local church. I had been studying for my architecture test all week, but continued to do my best through Sunday and Monday. The test was today and went alright, but needless to say it's not my extreme forte. I do, however, admire the subject and enjoy drawing the buildings and being able to analyze them in french architectural terms. My ability to memorize periods and dates and names and styles has yet to be perfected though. Certain friends are excited about the countdown left to return stateside, but I'm doing my best to relax and enjoy everything left in Paris.
I'll miss the habitual living routine I've gotten into (comme d'habitude) enjoying my walk to and from the Rue st. Maur metro, stopping at the bakery, watching Mohamed playing chess (toujours, toujours) the large carmel hound at the streetside cafe perfectly refectly the chestnut color of the jazz bass playing in the corner, the violin haunting the street alleyway and mysterious singer at 4am. Ok,
maybe I won't miss that last one so much haha! I know I'll be back so I'm trying to concentrate on that. I'm excited for seeing everyone at CUA and my parents and family though. Much less everything coming up for senior year- yes, I'm actually a senior now! A year from now I'll be a college graduate. Scary, frightening, exciting.
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