I had all three of my finals Monday. Not the best schedule for my sleep Sunday night, but afterwards it was sooo much better.
After sleeping all afternoon and night Monday, I went to Musee d’Orsay Tuesday morning with Rebecca. It was sooo great. We saw Degas, Monet, and a bunch of others, and got into the Manet exhibit for free! Unlike the Louvre it’s really manageable and we got to see most of the art. We even found a really cool room that looked kind of like Versailles, I’m pretty sure I want to live there when I grow up. Or now, if they’ll take me.
Sorry, no pictures from d’Orsay cause we didn’t want to be tackled by the guards.
After the museum, we walked to the Marais where Rebecca lives. On the way, I got an ice cream cone along the Seine because I wanted to be like Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant.
Once in the Marais, we stopped at L’As du Falafel (maybe for the last time :(). We took our falafel, which was even better because we had walked so much but hadn’t really eatn anything, and sat down in a garden in the Marais, Jardin Francs-Bourgeois-Rosiers. There was an old man there doing stretches, another man with a super cute baby, and us with our falafel. It was so peaceful and delicious.
Afterwards, we stopped at Rebecca’s apartment on Rivoli. We hung out with Maggie and Ashley for a while, then I left to go buy a bag at H&M to carry-on the plane. Still not entirely sure how this will work out…
Wednesday was my last day of class for two of my classes. Yes, we still had class even though we already had finals, weird. In my composition class, we got to meet a director of a play we saw, La Chute de la Maison Usher (Fall of the House of Usher). He explained why he did certain things and answered our questions, which was pretty cool.
In my theatre class, we got back our finals then my professor said we should all go profitez du soleil ensemble, so we went out for café. It was really relaxed…probably since there were only 5 of us in the class, but we talked to him about Paris, his job (he was one of the actors on the French equivalent of Saved by the Bell, Les Années Fac, in the 90’s), and anything else we could think of.
It was weird saying bye to my professors; at UMW I know I’ll probably have them again or at least see them around school…but with these professors I might not see them again ever. They all told us not to hesitate to e-mail if we had any questions, which was great.
After class on Wednesday, I went to the Grande Epicerie to try to find some souvenirs. I could probably stay in that store for days if I had the time. Unfortunately they didn’t have what I was looking for, so I got an avocado and took it home for lunch.
That night, Emily, Stephanie and I went to the Pink Flamingo in Montmartre for a picnic. After walking up every stair in the world, we finally had our pizza on the grass in front of Sacre Coeur. Too bad we forgot to ask them to cut it and didn’t have napkins. But, it was still delicious so I guess that part doesn’t really matter.
Thursday was my last day of classes EVER for junior year. FINALLY! I went to Paris VII in the morning to meet with my UP professor, who was going to give us personal comments on our finals. Welp, he might have, if he had read them. It’s kind of frustrating when I don’t sleep to finish things and then he doesn’t read them by when he says he would…it wouldn’t really be a big deal if I didn’t have a 40 minute commute or if I weren’t leaving on Sunday, but I do and I am. He asked me if I could come back next week, and I told him I would be gone so he said he’d mail it to me.
The other frustrating thing is that two of my classes focused on literature in the XIXe century, which you would think would be helpful. I used things I learned in each class to help me in the other class, but each professor was telling me different things so now I just don’t know who to believe.
After class, I met up with Rebecca, Justine, Ashley and Emily in the Marais. They were already at Breakfast in America
(it’s always so weird for me to hear so many people speaking English outside of NYU), so I waited and got a crepe from a man in the Marais. Last days in Paris! It was soo good, it had chicken and cheese and vegetables and a bunch of other stuff.
Then we headed over to Canal St. Martin, near where Emily, Ashley and Amanda live. We got beers and sat by the canal, hanging out surrounded by French hipsters. Then we went to Favela Chic!
Favela is (allegedly) where Prince hung out in Paris. Dancing, food, drinks, and rapping. I LOVE French rappers, and at the beginning they were live! It was kind of annoying to be constantly elbowed and pushed by people trying to get through, but it was sooo much fun to be in that environment. Luckily for you, Ashley is tall so we tried to get a video of the rappers…enjoy(sorry for the darkness)!
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