Well, here we are.
And look at how far we have come together, readers. I sit here writing to you from Charles de Gaulle Airport, and I am feeling neither happy nor sad, but rather perplexed. The idea that I won’t be living in Paris anymore isn’t a concept that seems to make much sense at all. I’m not prepared to leave you with any sort of conclusions yet. Instead, I’m going to give you an idea of what I spent these last two weeks doing.
We formulated a sort of list of things that we needed to make sure we accomplished, along with a list of things that we wanted to make sure we did one last time before leaving. Fortunately, (even amid the minor chaos that was finals) we pretty much managed to do everything we had hoped (and some that we hadn’t):
Dinner party at our apartment. Last week we had a few of our friends come over. Everyone contributed some sort of food, and we made use of our kitchen, as we (read: Amanda) prepared a fantastic chicken/cheese/cream/spice/idon’tknowwhat dish along with seasoned fries and spinach. We took our time eating, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.
Parisian pizza. No, it’s not Italian, and yes, it’s different from the pizza we had in the south of France. Parisian pizza is unique because of it’s Parisian bread--the crust is fluffy in a whole new kind of way. I loved it, but I still rate Nice pizza as my #1.
Pain vin fondue. …twice. Our friends had been telling us this was their favorite fondue place in Paris, so we finally made plans to go. This place was absolutely amazing. We ordered a four cheese mix along with a plate of meat and a fantastic raspberry cheesecake for dessert. We loved every bite, scraping the cheese bowl clean. We went with a group of about eleven, however, so the actually process of fondue-ing was somewhat frustrating. That’s why Amanda, Abbey, and I decided to go back again the following week. This time, we tried a slightly spicier cheese and the meat, also followed by the raspberry cheesecake. Just perfect.
Myberry. This is really not that exciting, but there was a small frozen yogurt place near school that we never went to all semester. Finally, we pushed ourselves to go. It was actually very good, but a bit too expensive. Consensus? No better than Yogurt & Such.
Pére Lachaise. Finally, we got to go back to the famous French cemetery when it was open. The weather was beautiful, and it was actually quite pleasant to walk along the paths. We didn’t have a ton of time, but we went to see the graves of Oscar Wilde, La Fontaine, Edith Piaf, and Molière. We didn’t have enough time to get over to Jim Morrison, or many of the other famous artists, musicians, and scientists who have been buried there. We did, however see a ton of mind-bogglingly large and decorated graves. Truly, walking around this gravesite of extraordinary people was a humbling experience that made us feel pretty insignificant.
Chez Gladines. Coincidentally, the restaurant that Josh had begged me to go to turned out to be just a few streets away from where Amanda lived. We had all wanted to try it, so we finally made plans to go. After waiting almost two hours to be seated (they don't take reservations, and they're open well into the night), we settled down at a table. We started with a plate of escargot with melted Emmental cheese and followed with veal. The escargot was delicious but beyond unnecessary, as this veal was essentially an entire baby cow per person. This enormous serving came drowned in a creamy sauce, mixed with prosciutto and potatoes. None of us could finish, and it’s unclear how we walked ourselves to the metro and home, as we were each in a food coma. Consensus? Worth it.
Brunch cruise on the Seine. This was as cheesy as it sounds, but our program had organized it for us, and it was a nice way to say a final farewell to the students and teachers in our Parisian school. It was corny, but we got some nice pictures and appreciated the free food.
Centre Pompidou. The modern art museum was located about a three-minute walk from our school this entire semester. This, in addition to the fact that I had been once before, led to me never getting myself over there. When I finally went, I found it was much like I remembered. I’m not a huge modern art fan, but I enjoyed the works of a few well-known artists. I’d have to say my favorites were done by Matisse, Kandinsky, and Dali.
Le Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme. This is another museum that was located very close to my school all semester. I finally got myself inside, and was able to see Chagall’s illustrations of the bible. This was interesting, but not absolutely my favorite. What I preferred much more was walking through the part of the building that showed the artifacts donated from the Jewish people who had lived in Paris before and during World War II. There were some fantastic stories on display, and some really moving and beautiful Jewish pieces to see.
L’As du Falafel. For our very last falafel of the semester. Not much more to say than that, which is fine because I really don’t want to talk about it.
Marais. We made a point of walking around the Marais for a while, exploring the boutiques we had never made it into, and just trying to enjoy the feeling of being casual Parisian shoppers, rather than American tourists souvenir hunting in a foreign city.
3OH!3. This is an American band who ended up having a concert just a short walk from where we lived. Five of us decided to go together, and we were pleased to find that although they are not unknown here, they’re not as big as they are in the United States. What did that mean for us? We got to see them pretty close up, and I even managed to catch the drummer’s drumstick. It was cool to have what would have been an American experience in France, surrounded by French people.
Musée Rodin. Abbey and I had loved the Rodin museum so much the first time we went that we decided to pay it a visit again. Although we didn’t stay long, we were so happy we had returned to see the beautiful gardens while the roses were in bloom. My allergies weren’t so happy with me, but it was well worth the annoyance, as the grounds were just stunning.
Quatre-Septembre. We returned to our favorite onion soup restaurant for our final bowls. We didn’t come up for air, and we scraped the bottoms clean. How will I ever eat French onion soup ever again?
Parc de Bellville. This park is a small, not-too-well-known place a few blocks from our apartment. We walked over as the sun was at it’s peak, and we got the most amazing view of Paris. From this far out and this high up, we could see the majority of the city at once. It was so beautiful, and again, we thought about how thankful we are to have had this experience abroad.
Sandwich. Yes, the day had to come when we ate our last Indian chicken sandwiches. We laughed, we cried, we chewed, we swallowed. It was a very emotional experience for us.
Opera Garnièr. We finally visited the stunning opera house, built by Napoleon III. It was an absolute transport through time, with beautifully decorated walls, floors, and ceilings. We only wished we had the time to stay and watch an actual opera. Oh well. Next time!
Poop. Yes. I got pooped on by a pigeon. I don’t want to talk about it.
Picnic along the Seine. For our last night, Abbey, Amanda and I bought a few baguettes, a bottle of champagne, and a bunch of meat and cheese to enjoy along the river as we watched the sun go down and the Eiffel Tower light up. We talked about our semester and some of the times we’ve had together. Maybe it was a bit cheesy, but we really felt that this was the perfect thing to do on our last night together.
It's SO hard to leave Paris, isn't it? But you'll be back soon: I'm sure of it. In the meantime, today's NY Times (5/25 Dining section) has it that Laduree is opening on the East side of Manhattan this summer. A taste of Paris in NY. Yay!
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