Continued....

If you can't tell by my sporadic blog postings, my last few weeks in Paris have been absolutely nuts. Spring Break Continued:

Provence: After a well needed day of R&R in Paris (which of course consisted of frantic museum hopping, who knew all the best exhibitions happened in les printemps?) my parents came to visit and whisked me away to Provence. We stayed in Arles, a cute little town that happened to have a very celebrated bullfight in an Ancient Roman Amphitheater (oh France). We went to all my favorite places, Marseilles, Cassis, Avignon, and it was fun showing them around and eating amazing, amazing food.

My then left and went to Prague (without me since I apparently have to have class once in a while) and came back and I took them through a day of little-known Paris. We went to Le Petit Palais where I gave them a little tour of the history of Parisian Art. We then went to my school, lunched, had some fun sharing Macaroons, and then Musée Mormottan, where we saw beautiful impressionist art (and one of my favorites Berthes Morrisot), and there was an exposition (is it exposition or exhibition? I forget...) of Raoul and Jean Duffy that was very well done and very intriguing. They then met my hostmom, for which I translated back and forth for about an hour, and ate at a lovely Couscous place, Chez Omar, my friend had recommended to me. We ended our night on Le Pont des Arts where my parents put a love-lock and we had a lovely time taking pictures and watching the Eiffel tower sparkle. Another Magical day in Paris.

After Spring Break, everyone in my program has been rather frantically stifling our anxieties about leaving by seeing everything possible in Paris. I always knew that this time would fly by, but I had no idea that I'd be so attached to so many things that I can't possibly be ready to leave yet! What's worse is that Paris in the winter and the spring look SO different that I feel like I want to re-see everything I've already seen (The Castles, the Gardens, the Exhibitions, the Monuments) In this last week of classes, I think our professors are empathizing and we're going on so many excursions my head is still spinning. I've been spending my alone time going to all my favorite places in Paris and saying goodbye. Here are some of the things I've been doing:

Rodin Museum: So far, the Rodin was the most difficult to say goodbye to, and I ended up staying there for 6 hours. The garden is in full bloom and the roses are as big as my head! The sun has been shining every day and I try to wear my springiest outfits and prance through the gardens and just bask in my last days of being a Parisian.

Montmatre: This really is the best place to see the entire city...hands down.

Invalides: I had never been inside and I was astonished. I just happened to be passing by Invalides (because when you live in Paris, you're often just in the neighborhood of some insanely important monument) and when I die, I'd like to have a tomb like Napoleons. It was very ominous and reminded me slightly of the scene in Jeanne d'Arc when God first speaks to her, dark open space with the light shinning down on the Tomb through the stained glass windows. Wonderful.

The Opera: Thursday I saw Tosca by Puccini at the Opera Bastille. It was absolutely mind blowing. Everyone should go rent the Opera and watch it. Plot Summary: During the height of the Napoleonic wars, Mario is hiding his friend from the chief of Police. The Chief of Police captures Mario and tortures him to find where his friend is hiding. Meanwhile, the Chief becomes enamored with Mario's girlfriend, Tosca, who also happens to know where the friend is hiding. Tosca reveals the whereabouts of the friend and the chief of police takes Mario to be executed. Tosca agrees to sleep with the chief, and the chief orders a feigned execution. Tosca then stabs the chief and runs to tell Mario the execution will be fake and they can live together forever. Turns out the chief was a jerk and called for a real execution, which when Tosca finds Mario dead, upsets her to the point where she throws herself off the top of a building. The End. It was beautiful.

Giverny: I hadn't been yet and it was pretty much my version of a pilgrimage to the holy land. We walked from the train station to the garden, had a little picnic on a bench in Monet's garden, took dozens of pictures of the beautiful flowers, the bridges, the lily pads. Breathtaking, I was speechless.

Countless Picnics and Parties: We all seem to be in denial that we must eventually leave Paris and one way to ignore our soon-approaching departure is to avoid studying for finals and picnic all day! Of course, us NYU kids have a difficult time separating fun and school, and we always end up having some type of spontaneous review session. It's so great that we're all getting together, just having fun and enjoying Paris' presence.

Tonight my host mom is making me a very special last-dinner-together meal with artichokes (she knows me so well) and creme brulée (obviously not together, that just sounds unpleasant). Au revoir mes amis!

PS: I'd just like to wish a very happy mothers day to my Mom and my Grandma! I love you!