Bonjour!

Time for another Paris update, I think.

Wednesday was the philosophy midterm, as I mentioned. And then Thursday we had class again (I know! Two days in a row?!) except that out of 24 people on the program, only 11 people chose to attend our class on Proust. Which on the one hand, really makes me want to skip class and on the other hand, is rather frustrating because I'm sitting there in class and they are all being slackers. And they still have class before and afterwards, so you can't use the time to go do anything more useful. Most people just went home and took naps. But that was ridiculous, and the professor finally noticed that people are skipping his class.

Then, Thursday night, Ingrid made dinner with her friend downstairs because there is a music school under our apartment building, that has a bigger kitchen (and the friend owns/founded the music school) and then I went there to eat dinner with Jean Claude, Ingrid, Naomie (the girl from Corsica), the friend, and a few other people. And it was slightly overwhelming to walk into this huge school that has been hiding underneath you all this time! And dinner was tasty (stuffed bell peppers...which is a vegetable!).

On the subject of fruits and vegetables, I would say that I have been eating a reasonable amount of vegetables - we have salad most nights and lots of tomatoes and then other vegetables now and then (such as potatoes) - but not a ton of fruit. But I bought apples and melon cubes and have banana in some of my crepes! So even if we don't have fruit as a host family experience, I have been eating some fruit. So no worries.

Friday (yesterday), we went to the Marmottan Museum as a program. The museum had a lot of Monet's paintings, along with several other artists, and I liked it a lot! I hereby declare Monet and Van Gogh my two favorite artists. And half the group left halfway through the tour because they thought we were done when we weren't really, but I stayed awhile because it was one of my favorite museums yet. But Monet's gardens are already closed for the winter, so I can't go to see them :(

Then I walked around with Annie and Ross from the program and we bought sandwiches and went back to the Trocadero to eat them. And then we wandered a whole bunch and finally bought pastries! I have bought lots of crêpes and chocolate croissants this trip, but I realized I haven't had any fancy pastries. So I bought a mini strawberry tartelette and a small chocolate eclair, and they were amazing! And I want another fresh fruit tart very soon.

Annie and I ate our pastries on a bridge crossing the Seine (Ross had left by then). It was misting a little bit, but our pastries were so delicious that we didn't mind. And then we walked to the metro and went home for an hour or so to rest (because when I say we "wandered", I mean that we wandered for about 3 hours).

At 5:50 we met back up at the Louvre for free Louvre night! It took us a little while to find each other, but then we went in and saw all the big name things at the Louvre that I still hadn't seen. We were there a little under 2 hours (because we had to get home for dinner) and we were rushing a bit, but we saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Michelangelo's Dying Slave and Rebelling Slave, and various Greek sculptures and Italian Renaissance paintings. I'm glad I finally got to see all of the "important" things, but it is more relaxing to go through one specific section, rather than rushing around trying to see specific pieces. I am hoping I can still go back one more time to look at the Egyptian art and Mesopotamia Collection, but we shall see if there is time!

This morning I went to the Panthéon, which was built as a church dedicated to St Genevieve, but was then converted into a memorial for those who died for France. It is a very cool building architecturally, and has the tombs of many famous and important people underneath (Voltaire, Madame Curie, Victor Hugo, Emilie Zola, Louis Braille, and others).

Then I bought a sandwich and wandered about a bit, until I ended up approaching the St Michel area. Except this time I approached if from the opposite corner than usual, so I came at the Notre Dame from behind and realized that I had never done that before. Which means that I had never really witnessed all of its flying buttresses and the whole back section of the Cathedral. So that was a surprise and Notre Dame is definitely cooler looking from that angle, so I am glad I walked there!

I also bought more french books from a book stand along the Seine, so I have quite a collection now. My plan is to mail home my books so that I have room in my suitcase for things from the Christmas markets in Vienna and Prague, and also so my suitcase is lighter.

In other news, I uploaded more Paris pictures, so check those out! I also composed a list of things Seattle needs more of:

1. Scenic Canals

2. Trains connecting to other cities and countries

3. Trams (because then I can follow the cables and I don't get lost!)

4. An efficient metro system

5. Fields with sheep and cows

6. Medieval castles

7. Cobblestones

8. A tall, centrally located clock tower (again, so I don't get lost)

9. Street-side crêpe and panini stands

10. Cable cars that afford scenic views

11. Gothic churches

I am also very much craving spaghetti with tomato sauce and a hamburger from the cheesecake factory, but I think I can hold out a few more weeks.

I love you and miss you and hope you are all well!