Bonsoir!
Ten days is not enough to fill you in on everything. The month of March passed quickly enough, considering the 17th seems like miles and miles away (or kilometers!). April is also moving out in a few days, which means that I will inevitably pack and leave too. Despite this, perhaps I can share highlights of stories, which can be described in few words or less. But let’s be real: since short-windedness is a task nearly impossible for me, I will go into detail at a later point, to elaborate more fully on my most recent doings.
After I last wrote, several things happened in quick succession. And by quick succession, I mean that the last month has been so busy that I didn’t even have time to write! So, these memories are at the mercy of hindsight. In the past month and ten days I:
1) Tried almost every macaron flavor known to man.
2) Accidentally discovered my favorite place in Paris.
3) Saw a bizarre play, then a bizarre ballet, and decided the French are a very particular audience.
4) Finally saw part of another European country (Italy) where I: a) said hello to Saint Peter, and waved back at the Pope’s arm, b) conquered gelato with an average of three scoops a day, c) rode in a gondola, d) got lost (surprising, I know) while riding both a land bus and a water bus, and e) somehow managed to make it to the train on time, specifically to Car 93, with two minutes to spare.
Deep breath…
5) Spent a week at “Chez Rosa,” hanging out with my friend Jess, and enjoying her Portuguese-influenced home stay.
6) Did my best to show my parents around Paris in only a week – we crossed off almost everything on the list.
7) Enjoyed and died a little inside at the sight of Monet’s garden at Giverny, which despite hoards of tourists, is as lovely and charming as humanly possible.
8) Picnic-ed, walked, talked, and was once imposed upon by the affections of a pigeon sitting above me in a tree, all during much time spent in various Parisian parks and gardens.
9) Spent an odd four hours or more in the Bois de Boulogne one Saturday, riding bikes with bells and enjoying the ability to get lost for once without actually caring.
10) Attended two incredibly crowded masses at Notre Dame for Palm Sunday and Easter, later enjoying a delicious Easter dinner at “Chez Rosa” that consisted of spaghetti and meatballs, and homemade tiramisu (all of which I made, thank you very much).
11) Attempted writing haikus about Parisian things, especially after seeing Molière performed on the metro line 4, and feeling too blonde to actually live in the 20th arrondissement of Paris for a week (“Chez Rosa”).
12) Cried a little inside at the thought of leaving it all!
Since it overwhelms me to actually think about going into detail on every single one of these at the moment, I will leave you with my friend Kate’s masterpiece of a haiku – one that simply puts you right there in the thick of it at the metro stop Montparnasse Bienvienüe.
The smell of urine
Painfully stings the nostrils
Damn you, Montparnasse.
*end scene*
Bisous et à tout à l’heure!
