Reflections on Returning

Oh, Paris, you've been so good to me these past 4 months. I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow. I am prepared to throw a fit and cause a scene on the airplane, all the way home. The sunglasses will be worn, at the very least.

I've been running around and doing things right up until the end. I had class this morning, in which I gave my oral presentation that basically counted as my final grade in a class we did NOTHING in all semester. I think it went well, though. Our huge end-of-internship papers were due on Wednesday so I turned that it and feel good about getting a 16-page paper off my chest! I didn't mind writing it because it was just all about my internship--what I did, and a it about the website; not hard at all.

Yesterday Em and I went back to the Musee d'Orsay, because I have not been there since the second week of the semester. I had wanted to see it one last time. It's so weird to think about seeing things for "one last time." I wanted to go back to the gardens, like Luxembourg and the Tuileries, but it is just too cold outside, and.....it's snowing! Not at this moment, but it snowed for the first time of the season yesterday :) It doesn't usually snow here in December so it was a big deal for the French people. So it would be a little too freezing to take a stroll outside. Oh well, guess I'll just have to come back sometime when it's spring time! Michelle left for Denmark for break yesterday so I helped her pack and we said our goodbyes. They were quick and (theoretically) painless. It's better when it just happens so one is running to get off the metro before the doors close; little time to really stop and think, Wow, I will not see you for 9 months. Needless to say, I am going to miss everyone here like CRAZY. I am going to miss every little minute detail of this city and of my semester here. I'm also going to miss Europe in general, and I have such great memories of the trips and traveling I've been able to do.

Yesterday when Em and I were walking around a town just outside Paris, where we decided to explore for lunch, we both got pelted with snowballs that a French boy was throwing as unassuming pedestrians from his second-story window! I wasn't even upset, I could only laugh! I think it's hysterical, except for when he dumped a HUGE amount of snow on the heads of some other people. The little punk. Today I also went to Rue Denoyez in Belleville, which is pretty well-known for its graffiti all up and down the buildings and walls. It was SO COOL. And guys who were tagging were there, dressed in some weird costumes. They were being filmed, maybe for a movie! It was so cool. Did I already mention that? :) The street is so creative and beautiful and artful.

I already have a list of things that I have to do the next time I get back here, whenever that is. You know what? I am at peace. I have done and seen so much this semester. I have learned so much about myself and have gained a lot of independence. I hope I can hold onto it while I'm back home and not feel stunted. I'm sure it will be nice to be home and there are so many things and people I look forward to seeing!

I love Paris. It is my city. And I will be back one day. (expect a post-return entry soon!)

Ireland in Photos

The stunning Cliffs of Moher!
Sunset in the countryside on the way back from the Cliffs of Moher

The River Liffey that runs through Dublin
lively street!
Michelle and me on the tour bus!
THE PADDY WAGON, in the flesh (?)
Our first view of Ireland from the plane. It really is that green!

Dublin: III

December 14, 2009, Monday

Michelle and I really booked this trip well, time-wise. We had the full day in Dublin on Saturday and today our flight didn't leave until night, so we had all day, until 5 p.m., in the city. That makes 3 full days in this beautiful country! We woke up early because when you stay in a hostel room with other people, when they get up early in the morning, you're pretty much up early in the morning, too. We had breakfast and were ready for the day by 8:30, which was a little ridiculous because nothing was really open and we had alllll day to do stuff. We made great friends with Stephen, a worker at Paddy's Palace. He told us that if you work for the company for 3 or 6 months, you get free lodging and you can go on tours for free! What a deal! We watched a little Irish morning news and some crappy tv to kill some time.

Finally, we left to see some sights, the first being Trinity College. It was a little colder today, so we bundled up even though it was a pretty short walk. The campus is absolutely gorgeous with huge stone buildings and a great courtyard. I'm sure I looked like a little tourist, taking photos while all the students were walking to and from class. We went there to see the Book of Kells, which is an illuminated manuscript from the 800s, containing the four gospels of the New Testament, written in Latin by Celtic monks. It was a really interesting exhibition, though I'm not sure it was worth 8 euros. I did get a coupon for a free postcard! Haha. After, we took a stroll down Grafton Street, which is the equivalent of; Rue de Rivoli (Paris), Regent Street (London), even Newbury Street (Boston); Basically, all sopping. We peeked in a few stores and bought gloves, but that's it; I behaved! We exited right next to Saint Stephen's Green, a wonderful, beautiful park in the city, and strolled all around it. It reminded me of being in Parc Monceau in Paris...just like home! As it started to get colder, we returned to Paddy's and had some time to warm up and relax before taking the 5 p.m. Bus to the airport. Our driver was the same one who had taken us from the airport to the hostel a couple days earlier, and he was so nice, too! Really, everyone there was so nice. I think we formed some pretty good bonds to be honest.

The flight home was flawless, it just took a long time. By the time I got back to the foyer it was after midnight. I got to sleep a little on the bus ride back to Paris, but I had to stay up a little later to finish working in my final paper due Wednesday.

So, to sum it all up: This weekend was definitely one of the best ones of my life! I'm so happy Michelle and I went together because we had so much fun and were silly, so that aspect was definitely fun. Plus, we got to spend a lot of time in a truly breathtaking country—one that I would love to revisit someday. I'm very fortunate to have been able to do so much traveling this semester. It really does feel like all of Europe is at your fingertips once you're over here, and it is pretty easy to get around. Even better when you can find cheap flights. Now I have to enjoy the last few days left in Paris before I head back home. What a whirlwind!

Bisous mes amis!

Dublin: II

December 13, 2009, Sunday

I forgot to mention that the reason we decided to voyage Saturday-Monday is that we would not have to miss our Friday class with Thierry, which I have already missed a lot of times. Also, our flights were SO cheap—5 euros for the flight to Dublin and 3 euros for the return trip!! I kid you not. I love RyanAir.

Anyway, we woke up today around 6 (woo hoo, got to sleep late! Haha) and had breakfast in the hostel before meeting in the lobby around 7. The Paddy Wagon had a full bus today and we got good seats near the front. The Cliffs of Moher are on the west coast of Ireland, and you can cross the whole country in about 3-4 hours, which I think is pretty cool. Still;, this means it was a long trip in the bus. Mike, our driver, was hysterical, though I don't know if he meant to be. He told us no less than 50 times how lucky we were because of the weather. It was true, even in Summer you might not get clear skies and sun like we did today. It would have been a shame to go all the way to the Cliffs and not be able to see them because of fog. And Mike made sure to repeat himself...again...and again...We passed by the field where the battle scene in Braveheart was filmed! The sun did not rise for a while, but it was beautiful when it did. It was amazing to speed by the rolling green countryside of Ireland. And speed by we did, because Mike was a maniac driver. Safe, but so fast! I wore my seatbelt. We stopped at King John's Castle on the River Shannon. There were a lot of medieval castles around, the ruins just scattered all over the countryside. It was kind of like how the ancient ruins were scattered in Athens. We were on a very strict schedule, as Mike also kept reminding us; so we did not have a ton of time for photo opportunities, though we got to take some. Luckily, we stayed on schedule all day. We drove through the parts of the country that were devastated by the Potato Famine, which the Irish call the Great Hunger because the rest of the country was well-fed, just not the peasants in the countryside who were so poor they could only live off potatoes. When they were allowed to work for their food, the government in the east made them build stone walls to literally nowhere, all day, for just one penny a day's worth of food for their family. During the time of the famine, Ireland's population decreased by 3 million, from 8 million to 5 million—1 million died and the rest fled. Today, the population is not as high as it used to be. Seeing the walls was very striking and a sad reminder of the atrocities the Irish had to endure.

We stopped for lunch in a very small village named Doolin, at an Irish pub that had SUCH good food for a great price—and lots of it! It was so picturesque and quiet and beautiful, especially at this time of year when there are not a lot of people around. Things are so remote that people in Doolin have to drive over an hour to get to the closest grocery store. I wonder how long it takes to get to school? Doolin is only 5 minutes from the Cliffs of Moher, which is the most-visited sight in the whole country. Of course, my camera stopped working right as we got there, to the most important part of the whole trip! I was furious. Luckily I can rely on Michelle's camera, but it was still a huge bummer. The cliffs are simply stunning, especially when you get up close and see just how high they are—440 meters or something like that. The water was a sparkling blue and it matched the sky and we had warm sun-it was perfect! There were almost no other tourists there too, which made it even more serene. In the summer I think it would be too hot and too crowded. We seem to get very lucky on trips like this. :) It was so nice also to just be silent and listen to the murmur of the waves as they hit the rocks. It's very magnetizing, and I forgot how much I missed things like this while being in Paris. We stayed for an hour and a half and got to climb both sides of the cliffs, even passing a point that is interdit (sometimes I honestly can't remember some words in English). Everyone went beyond that point, you just have to be careful. Great photos!

We made a similar to stop to another castle on the drive home, but Miche and I slept more on this trip. Since it gets dark so early, we were not missing much of the scenery outside the bus. We got back to the hostel a little after 7, a little tired but so happy that we decided to take the day trip. It was getting the best of both worlds, to be able to profit from the city and to see the famed, incredible countryside. We found an Italian place for dinner and both ordered the same dish, which Miche and I noticed we are very good at doing, haha. It was in the Temple Car area, a lively stretch full of bars and pubs with live Irish music, but it was a little pricey for us. We were really tired again so we retired to the hostel, watched more X Factor, since it was the final vote night (oh, please, just listen to me now). Went to bed early again :)

Dublin: I

This entry is all about my fabulous weekend in Ireland with Michelle! Wow. As I write this, I've been back in Paris for a couple days and I still can't get over how amazing my weekend was and how much I want to go back. I hope the following entries are not too boring for you, because I wanted to record every detail I could remember. Here goes nothing...

December 12, 2009, Saturday

Today started really early—I woke up at 3:45 so I could shower before leaving the foyer. Unfortunately I did not get a lot of sleep mast night because there was a huge party a couple doors down from me in the foyer, and people were being so loud. Luckily I am a morning person and can get by with little sleep. We had to leave so early because RyanAir likes to fly out of very remote airports and it was flying out of Beauvais, over an hour outside of Paris. I got all my stuff together, packed into the now-infamous brown Weekend Trip Bag, and left the foyer around 5 a.m. In order to catch the first metro at 5:30, I got to Nation around 5:20. I really don't like the walk from my foyer to that metro station early in the morning or late at night, even though it's only about 10 minutes. It's probably safe, I just get a weird feeling. I took the metro all the way to the western periphery, to Porte Maillot, and met Michelle there at the bus terminal. We were both so excited we were so talkative and giddy on the bus ride, though I think we tried to sleep a little. Beauvais is a very small airport, almost not even real in my opinion. It took us not long at all to go through security and we had some time to relax before getting on board. It's free seating, just like EasyJet, so we found a nice part on the left side and I got the window—nice! I have a baseless fear of the right side of planes so it was perfect. The flight was only an hour and a half, too! Good thing Michelle was there for me to squeeze the daylights out of her hand during take-off. She's a good sport. :)

Seeing the green fields from the airplane made Ireland really come alive. It's just like it looks in the pictures! Though during the Spring the green is more vibrant and lush, for the middle of December, we were really surprised at how much greenery there was. We booked a hostel named—wait for it—Paddy's Palace! It has such a funny name, how could we not? Actually, it is the only hostel in Europe (or the world, as Stephen, our Paddy's Palace employee friend, would tell us) that has free shuttle service to and from the airport. I can't get over the accents! And I thought it was great in England. Actually, sometimes when the Irish pilots spoke on the plane, it was as if they were speaking another language entirely. Also, did you know the language can be called Irish, too, not Garlic? I thought that was interesting because it sounds a little incorrect, like saying people speak American or Mexican, but it is correct. Everyone was so, so friendly and helpful and just generally very...cheery. What a pleasant change! The Paddy Wagon picked us up at 12; Yes...the Paddy Wagon, a bright green bus with a sheep and leprechaun on it, that says PADDY WAGON TOURS across it. We must have been quite a sight. It was hard to get used to the fact that the Irish drive on the other side of the road, too. I could already tell it was going to be a fantastic weekend! The bus took us right to the hostel, in the center of Dublin. We really picked the hostel well—great location close to the River Liffey that runs through the city. Our driver told us all about the area on the way there. This hostel really should have been considered a palace! It had great couches in the lobby, a huge flat screen tv and a computer with free internet for anyone who wanted to use it! And books and brochures...it really felt like a little hotel. If anyone is ever looking for a hostel in Dublin, I demand you stay at Paddy's Palace. We got checked into our 10-person female dorm room right downstairs, but we only ever had a couple roommates at a time. I got the top bunk. :) It was still rally early at that point so we got settled and then walked around the city to a place where we could get on a hop-on hop-off tour bus.

Dublin is even smaller than Paris, and seems to be very accessible from anywhere. There is a pretty lively population and a lot of people. It was really interesting to see the stark differences between Dublin and Paris. Dublin is not as pretty, architecturally, I would say. The buildings are nondescript brick ones, not too high, with no embellishments at all. I prefer the wrought iron balconies, flower boxes, and window shutters of Parisian apartments much more. People seem more relaxed and not as consumed with image. I think I can say in a sociological, observational way, that Dubliners are not as rigid as Parisians with self-image and clothing and looking good, and Dubliners have a more alternative style, whereas Parisians don't take as many risks and wear a lot of dark colors. We found the bus station and paid our 13 euros to get on. It was a little cold but we had sun and clear weather so Michelle and I sat on the top of the uncovered double-decker bus to get the best view. The tour was an hour and a half long, and it took us by beautiful parks, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church, the Guinness Factory, and all sorts of historical sights. We took so many photos! Phoenix Park in Dublin is the largest enclosed park in all of Europe! It was really beautiful. The whole area around the Guinness Factory smelled like barley, thought I really thought it smelled like horse manure, haha. I think it's the number one tourist attraction the city and the beer is sold literally everywhere.

When we got off the bus around 3:15, we wandered around to some Christmas markets we had passed on the Paddy Wagon. After being to the markets along the Champs Elysées, no other markets seem as impressive, but it was still so nice! I didn't buy anything but some scones and fudge...mmm! It was so festive and it was right on the water, which was nice. That killed some time before we headed back to the hostel for a little because it was so cold out. I will admit it...we may have taken an hour nap in our beds, haha. Hey, we had been up for so long and were really tired. We got some dinner recommendations from people who worked at the hostel and tried to get into a really popular pub called the Cilt (pronounced “kilt”) but it was full until 10 p.m. We still found another Irish pub and Michelle and I both ordered Shepherd's Pie! That was one of my goals for the weekend. She had a Guinness because, well, When in Rome, and I had a coke. Even though I was in Dublin, I could not bring myself to drink the stuff. Dinner was so yummy. I had wanted to check out the temple Bar area after dinner but we were so tired that we just went back to the hostel and watched a little tv in the lobby before going to bed. The show The X-Factor was on and people are pretty nuts about it, so we got in on the fun for a little. It's like American Idol but with better accents.

So, Paddy Wagon Tours is a touring company that also has several hostels all around Ireland, not just in Dublin. They run 1-, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 10-day tours all over the country, too. Miche and I decided to pay a little more to take a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast. I think staying in the city all weekend would have been a little suffocating; plus we really wanted to see the countryside. Most people who stay in the hostels go on tours, or they stay in the hostel BECAUSE they went on a tour. We went to bed satisfied with our plan and still so ecstatic to be in Dublin!

Comment dit-on "hodgepodge" en francais?

Part of the medievel wall that circled Paris...this bad boy is from the 1100s!
Empty nutella jars are a good measure for a successful semester.
The ferris wheel at one end of the Champs Elysees for the Christmas markets
Parc Monceau!
I saw this beautiful sunrise from my room window one morning :)
Overlooking Paris from the Centre Pompidou
Galeries Lafayette decorated for the holidays!
La Seine
The beautiful domed ceiling inside l'Hotel des Invalides

La vie continue

Ok a rapid-fire run-down of some things that have been going on lately:

1. Went to the outdoor Christmas markets along the Champs Elysees last weekend....it was lovely! White booths line the avenue and they sell everything you can imagine--food, tea, jewelry, handmade scrapbooks, ornaments, and all sorts of knick knacks. I walked up and down it twice with Emily and Michelle and bought some gifts for the holiday :) There was also a ton of vin chaud (hot wine) which smelled almost too good to resist. Alas, I did, and went for the chocolate-covered bananas instead. Mmm!

2. I've been working on my 15-page paper allllll the time lately. I go to IFE in the morning for my internship and still wind up staying there all day to work on it. It's due Wednesday and since I'm not going to be around this weekend, it has to get done SOON. I don't think I'll have a problem getting it done, I just might have to commit a late night or two.

3. Monday night I went out to dinner with a bunch of friends from my class, which was so nice! We went to Louise's, which is the place my friend Megan discovered and told me about (I had already been there twice). It was Megan, her boyfriend, Luci, her cousin and brother, Max, and myself. I had the lasagna like I had the first time and it was delicious! I had wanted to go home and work on my paper--this should really come before "2."--but I was persuaded to go out to Stolly's, the bar where my friend Vanessa works. I'd been there before too. I'm glad I went! It was really nice and not as crowded this time as it was last time, probably because it was a Monday night and not a Friday night, haha. It was great to see Vanessa again too, because it will probably be the last time. :-/ I had a White Russian (3rd in a week---what!) and I inspired others to get it too. So, ha! Not just an old man/Big Lebowski drink. :)

well I guess that's all I really have....The past week has not been the MOST adventurous. Did I mention I took my final last weekend? Parts of it were kind of hard, but I get the results today, for better or for worse. We'll see.....! Off to Dublin tomorrow with Michelle and couldn't be more excited!