Day 108

I woke up at 6:45 am so that I could get ready, finish packing, and strip my bed.

I enjoyed my last Parisian breakfast of hot chocolate and yogurt with Katie and Gina, said goodbye to Katie as she went to class, and then went off to take my final.

Cameron, one of the RAs, proctored the test. It was pretty easy, and only took me about 55 minutes to take.

I then went upstairs to gather my things and go. I said goodbye to Tiffany, and Gina went downstairs with me to wait for my Uber. When the Uber arrived, I parted ways with Gina, and then off I went.

The Uber was super chill. The driver had no trouble understanding me, and we really didn't hit any traffic at all. It only took 45 minutes to get to the airport.

Checking my bag, going through passport control, and getting through security then only took me about an hour or so, which is pretty amazing for a huge, international airport! I even had to take a little tram thing to my particular section of the terminal.

So here I am, sitting at the gate, marveling at how much better this Wi-Fi is than it is on any of the St. John's Europe campuses. I'm not exactly looking forward to a 10-hour flight, followed by a 1.5-hour flight, but I am SO EXCITED to be going home. Or, sort of home. Close enough!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog. I've had fun writing it...most of the time. Basically, just know that if you say "TELL ME EVERYTHING" when you finally see me again, I will 100% say "Read the blog." and move along with my day.

It looks like I should stand in line for boarding now. Au revoir! Thanks for reading!

Day 107

LAST FULL DAY IN PARIS!!!

I did my best to make the most of my last full day in Paris by barely spending any time on campus.

At 10, Katie, Gina, and I went to the Vincentian house next door to go into the chapel to see the remains of St. Vincent de Paul. JUST MY LUCK, though...the chapel was closed for cleaning all day Wednesday and Thursday. I shouldn't have put that off. St. Vincent is clearly telling me to never procrastinate again!

I attended my last weekly meeting at 10:30. This week's snack were these butter cake things that were just AMAZING. One was kind of like sweet corn bread, but the other one was warm, flaky, gooey, and just all-around delicious. MAN, I'm gonna miss French food.

We then went on excursion #1 of the day with Matthieu. I feel bad because I don't remember the names of everything we saw, but basically, it was a tour of the Latin Quarter. We saw schools, botanical gardens, Medieval and Roman ruins, the Pantheon, and more.

At the Pantheon, we all played with the ice blocks that are still there, and some of us even got filmed doing it! And--get this--the guy filming us is apparently Dale Bell, the guy who produced the documentary film Woodstock! So maybe I'll be in his next Oscar-winning documentary?

The botanical gardens randomly had some animals on display in them, including WALLABIES! They were soooooooooo cute! And it was just so weird to see wallabies in Paris! But very exciting.

Matthieu also took us to a mosque that had a little cafe inside. He got us all tea and cookies, which were very yummy! It tasted just like the super-sweet mint tea from Morocco.

At the end of the tour, most people had to leave to go to their art class, but Katie, La Shay, Vinny, Angela and I stuck around until tour #2 started. The meeting point for the next tour was in front of Notre Dame, so we went and had lunch and shopped around in that area. I had a cheese crepe, obviously (last day in Paris). 

The second walking tour was of the Marais neighborhood, right on the other side of the river. We saw the square where Victor Hugo's house is located, had falafel in the Jewish quarter, saw the Pompidou Museum, walked through a flower market, and more.

When I got back to school, I finished packing, or, at least, the packing I could do before getting ready the next morning. 

Dinner was actually really good! Too bad I wasn't hungry after a crepe AND a falafel sandwich. I had fish, pasta, and broccoli. AND I got my favorite pudding one last time!

After dinner, I studied for my final for a little while and took a shower. Then, Gina, Shavonne, and Shaq came over to play Life. Once that game ended, we played Heads Up, and La Shay finally came over as well. It was sort of bittersweet, because even though it was super fun and hilarious like always, I was obviously really sad to say goodbye to everyone. 

Wow. I can't believe that was my last full day!

Day 106

,LAST DAY OF CLASS!!!

AND I only had to go to class for one hour! You see, at some point, Prof. Garrau decided to change the syllabus, so what ended up happening was that I had already done what we were doing in class that day as part of my make-up work, so she told me I could leave to go study. Super nice!

Before studying, I actually went out to Sephora to get my eyebrows waxed. I hadn't done so since August, and with all the wedding events this weekend and such, I need to be looking my best. They were a little weird about taking me as a walk-in at the brow bar, but were overall super nice and accommodating.

Next, I headed to Oh My Cream, a beauty supply store that also does manicures, because I read on Yelp that they accept walk-ins and speak English well. Well, the English was okay, but they don't really take walk-ins. I guess that's just not a thing here! It was fine, though, because the girl working there (who couldn't have possibly been any older than I am) gave me an appointment for 5:30 that day.

So I went back to school and got to studying. I felt mostly confident in my understanding of the material, but wanted to make sure I really had it down so that I could take my exam as quickly as possible.

At 2:15, I met with Prof. Garrau for just a few minutes so that she could answer the few questions I had in regard to the test material. I'm so happy and grateful that she's been so helpful with all of this. I gave her a really good evaluation!

For the rest of the afternoon, I spent some time just relaxing, and also started to pack.

A little after 5, I went back to Oh My Cream to get my manicure. I really just wanted French tips, but the girl told me my nails are too short. That has never been a problem before, but whatever. I guess the French know French manicures best. Instead, I got a pretty grey color that should match my bridesmaids dress.

I made it back to campus just in time for dinner, which was not very good. It was rice and cooked carrots. The meat-eaters were given something that no one was able to identify. 

For our last "Turn-Up Tuesday," especially since we really hadn't been partaking in the occasion while in Paris, Katie, Gina, Tiffany, and I went to the place we went to last week with the really good Happy Hour deals. Gina almost didn't come, but we swayed her successfully. 

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. We was a much-needed gossip session, accompanied by super yummy drinks and kettlecorn. The perfect way to spend my last Tuesday night!

We got back at 10:45 or so, so I showered and got ready for bed right away. 

Second-to-last night sleeping in Paris.....

Day 105

On Monday, I grudgingly got up at 7:15 FOR MY SECOND TO LAST DAY OF CLASS!

...which was pretty chill. We did a reading, answered some questions on it together as a class, did another reading, and then answered questions on that one in groups. Prof. Garrau asked me if I could send her the answers to the rest of the questions I needed to do for homework. I of course said yes...but still needed to do them.

So, right after class was over, I finished my readings and questions and had them sent to her by 1:50 pm. During that time, I also did my laundry FOR THE LAST TIME IN EUROPE. (Sorry I'm being really intense about these things, but it's almost like I'm just now realizing their significance as I'm typing them)!

Then, I finished reading over/editing Anarita's Ethics paper. She picked a really interesting topic, so I really did enjoy doing that. I also wrote my blog posts about the weekend (which I thought were some of my finest work on this blog so far. I don't know why).

For the rest of the afternoon, still exhausted from the fun-filled weekend, I let myself relax. You can probably guess that by "relaxed" I mean that I colored in my coloring book and played Sims. Classic.

Dinner was all right I guess: potatoes and green beans. And they STILL haven't had my favorite pudding in quite some time...

Gina downloaded the movie Pearl Harbor to her iPad a while back, and kept suggesting that we watch it, but we were never really in the mood for something that heavy. However, when I realized this morning that today was in fact Pearl Harbor Day, I decided that we definitely needed to watch it. And so, we did. It did a good job of holding my attention throughout, which is impressive because it's 3 hours long, but overall it was kinda...eh. I mean, the actual Pearl Harbor part of it was pretty impactful, especially with today being the anniversary, but the love story part was pretty dumb. The more I think about it, the madder it makes me. THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER. ...Sorry, don't want to give any "spoilers" by ranting about it on here. I'll stop complaining!

Obviously, it was pretty late by the time we finished the movie, so then we went to bed.

AND THAT WAS MY LAST MONDAY IN EUROPE.

Day 104

Last Sunday in Paris!

Once again, Katie, Gina, and I started our journey around 10ish or so because we definitely needed some sleep.

We set out toward the Louvre with hopes of finding a place to have breakfast at along the way. We ended up eating at a little cafe right by the museum (I had a Nutella crepe), and then getting drinks at a Starbucks nearby (I had a hot chocolate).

Inside the Starbucks, there was a pigeon on the loose! I was not cool with it. Some poor girl working there had to go get a plastic bin and catch it. When she finally did get it, she accidentally got the bird's wing caught in between the lid and the bin, which was sad and disgusting. She brought it out back, and we can only imagine what happened then. So gross.

We had to wait in a pretty long line to get in the Louvre because apparently entry was free for all people on that particular day, but it wasn't so bad. A sign said we would be waiting for an hour and a half, but it was more like twenty minutes. No big deal.

The first exhibit we visited was the Islamic Art wing, the museum's newest exhibit. Everything was so pretty. We looked at lots of ancient art as well because Gina wanted to find a favorite Mesopotamian sculpture of hers. In that section was also Hammurabi's Code, so that was exciting to see.

We looked at some paintings, then the apartments of Napoleon III, and then decided to make our way out of the Louvre. I'm definitely glad I got to go one last time!

I was dying to go back to Little Tokyo for more noodles, so that was our next destination. The restaurant we ate at last time was closed, so we went to the one next door. It had better service, better prices, AND better flavor. Win, win, win! It was everything I wanted and more.

We walked back to campus to rest for about a half an hour, and then set out for the catacombs.

We had to wait a while to get into the catacombs, but we were able to get in for free with our art cards! I'm telling you, that thing is MAGIC. 

So the catacombs of Paris are not actually catacombs at all. It's really just a big, creepy art project. It's very cool, though!

  

After that excursion, we headed back to campus to get ready for mass. The nuns walked us over to the Vincentian priests' house (that's actually connected with our building) to have a private English mass in a little room. It was kind of like what we used to do in Rome. I even did the second reading! It was very nice, and had a decent turnout.

We went to the cafeteria back on our side of the complex after mass where we were given pizza and wings. The only two pizzas they had were one with a bunch of vegetables on it, and one with a bunch of vegetables as well as ham and pepperoni. Like I always say, they should've just got cheese. But it was still good. 

Later, I Skyped with my parents for a little bit, trying to figure everything out for this weekend. Then, I showered, did a little homework, started reading over Anarita's Ethics term paper (because she asked me to revise/edit it), and then went to bed. 

I've got to say, I'm pretty satisfied with my last weekend in Paris! I guess it was also my last weekend in Europe...so weird! Still great, though!

Day 103

Katie, Gina, and I definitely had no desire to get up early on Day 103, so we didn't head out till about 10:15 or so. However, that didn't stop us from having quite a full day!

Our first stop, of course, was for breakfast. We went to Bagelstein--the same place I had lunch at on Wednesday, just a different location. This one is right around the corner from campus! I had a yummy bagel and a really good hot chocolate. 

Our first REAL stop of the day was the Pantheon. Before going in, we spent a little time in the square in front of it where there were a whole bunch of giant ice blocks that were apparently brought down from the North Pole. We think it must've had something to do with the climate change conference going on here right now.

Us with an ice block!

The inside of the Pantheon was super cool as well. We only thought we would get a discounted ticket, but our art cards allowed us to get in for free! I would've definitely paid, though. 

Apparently it is (or used to be? I probably should've actually read the information panels) the Church of St. Genevieve, whose name I chose for my confirmation name almost four years ago. I thought that was pretty exciting!

The best part of the Pantheon, though, is the crypt. We saw the graves (or should I say caskets? What do you say when they're all elaborate and above ground? I'll stick with graves...) of Voltaire, Rousseau, the Curies, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Braille, and many others. I had thought Descartes was in there, too, but he was not listed on the map or anywhere to be found. Maybe he actually isn't there, or maybe he just isn't accessible to the public.

Rousseau

Voltaire

Marie and Pierre Curie

Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas

Thought this was neat. There was Braille writing underneath Braille's name.

After leaving the Pantheon (and playing with the ice blocks some more), we made our way toward the Eiffel Tower. 

We even got to walk through the Luxembourg Gardens for a little bit.

Along the way, we came across Invalides, the military museum that houses Napoleon's grave. We figured we might as well pop in to see Napoleon while we were there. Once again, our art cards proved useful--we didn't have to pay for tickets! 

Napoleon

Some other casket that I thought was really pretty

Us in our silly, paper Napoleon hats. Gina: "I feel cool. I feel like a pirate!"

At last, we went to the Eiffel Tower so that we could finally go all the way to the summit of it. 

The weather really hadn't been an issue throughout the day; it was cold, but very sunny. Unfortunately, though, the top of the Eiffel Tower was windy as all get out. We were DYING. Our timing ended up being superb, though. We barely waited at all to buy our tickets and to get to the second tier, and when we left, those lines were just outrageous. Granted, we did have to wait in a very long, windy line to get from the second tier to the summit, but it was worth it.

We headed back towards campus after descending, but desperately looked for a bakery or cafe to stop at along the way to get some warm drinks. Eventually, we found what we were looking for, and I had a much-needed hot chocolate. Later, back on campus, we rested up for a little while and tried to get warm.

At about 6:50 or so, we headed out with hopes of having dinner at Les Fondus de la Raclette, where we ate on my birthday. When we got there, though, they told us we couldn't get a table without a reservation. Sad day. So instead, we walked up the street and looked at some menus before finally settling on a different restaurant to have dinner at. It proved to be pretty good as well. I had some type of sea bass with a really yummy risotto. We also split a pitcher of white wine. 

Following dinner, the three of us watched yet another film in our "movies set around Paris" film series. Tonight's was probably the best yet: Ratatouille! God, I love that movie. It just has the sweetest ending. And it's hilarious.

Exhausted, and with another full day planned for tomorrow, we went to bed after the movie was over.