Finally, the weather was beautiful - and consistent! Before then, it would be sunny for a few days before the temperature would dip down and I would have to start wearing a sweater or a coat again. Gorgeous weather meant that none of us wanted to go to class, let alone finish our final papers or projects. (I actually didn't skip class, just for the record).
I had a few last items on my Paris "To-do" list.
I made it to the Georges Pompidou Centre, which is a modern art museum and one of Paris' most bizarre-looking buildings:
It's not under construction and that's not scaffolding - that's just the architecture of the building. As I said, modern art. A lot of it was fairly bizarre, too much for my tastes, but there were some very cool paintings or sculptures that I really enjoyed.
As I wandered through the galleries, I loved seeing the groups of schoolchildren on tours, learning about the art. I was actually very impressed by how young they were to be learning about such modern art (most of which is very intellectual). Art education just isn't as important in the States, so it was very refreshing for me to see how young these kids were.
As the weather was so nice, my friends and I spent as much time outside as possible, just hanging out or picnicking in various parks. Paris has a very vibrant outdoor culture. If it's a sunny day, everyone goes outside to picnic, play sports, lay in the sun and tan, go for a run, or do whatever.
One of the best things to do in Paris is to get dinner around the 10th arrondissement, order something for take-out, and sit along the Canal St. Martin to eat and drink with a few friends. It's such a good idea that it's difficult to find free space along the canal, because so many others are doing the same. I went one night with my friend Joe and we split a pizza and a bottle of wine. [The most French pizza ever: smoked salmon with fresh cream and caviar. Surprisingly tasty.]
Somehow during those last few days I found time to write my final papers (in English and in French) and prepare for a French presentation.
Let it just be said that going abroad for the quarter was the best thing I could have done for my GPA - I did very, very well in all of my classes.
The last weekend in Paris was over far too quickly.
On Friday, I went to the Eiffel Tower - finally. I had a picnic on the lawn with some friends. I'm glad I waited to long to go because the day was just beautiful.
Saturday was my birthday! At this point people had already started leaving Paris, either to return to the U.S. or to travel some more while they were in Europe. But, I managed to get a group of my friends together and we ended up having dinner on the Seine and hanging out around Pont des Arts. At one point we were in such a good mood that we just started laughing and couldn't stop for a very long time. The day had been warm but the evening was nice and cool, there were street musicians and plenty of other young people going for walks or just hanging out. Pont des Arts is really more of an outdoor club or café than anything else.
Sunday was spent packing and preparing for my flight home.
Monday I was up early in the morning to catch the Métro all the way to Charles de Gaulle and catch my flight. Paris --> Dublin --> Chicago.
Justin met me at the airport, and he had bought me McDonald's for lunch as a "welcome back to America" present.
Sometimes I miss Paris but I'm so happy to be back home in the U.S. And now that I've had the opportunity to travel some, I know I'm not going to want to stop.
I wonder where I'll go next...
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