Another crepe for you?

The past few weeks have whizzed by in a blur--from the moment we got back from Germany until the moment I sat to write this, everything has been zipping by. I admittedly jipped you readers on my account of Germany-- it was written in a span of fifteen minutes and I literally hit "post" and ran out the door to catch the Euro Star to Paris. I didn't even post the pictures to go along with it, which I regret because the pictures of my "heaping piles of meat" are a bit more appetizing than my descriptions.

Anyhow, ce'st la vie...which, as a French phrase, segues perfectly into this better-thought-out post on Paris. PARIS- the city of romance, of writers, of food. Was it everything you picture it to be? That and more. We woke up every morning to a view of a Parisian street flooded with baguette-eaters and girls in dresses riding bicycles with baskets. Sometimes I wanted to pinch myself. It still seems unreal that we were in Paris-- its just such a landmark figure in any American's mind. But I digress...

Sinead was a fantastic tour guide, better than I was with the roommates in London. She had our whole weekend planned out but did it all in a nonchalant and leisurely kind of way, which relaxed everyone. Not only that, but its pretty helpful having a fluent French speaker with you all the time.

Over the course of the weekend we saw impressionist art at Musee d'Orsay, ate at a British pub (home sweet home), saw Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Seine, ate fresh baguettes with camembert and 1 euro wine, and meandered about through the rest of tourist and non-tourist Paris munching on Nutella crepes. We ate the best falafel I've ever had while sitting on a street curb in the Marais. We climbed a thousand steps to reach the Sacre Coeur on top of Montmarte and take in the most beautiful view of the City of Lights all lit up at nightfall. We had cheap beers in the Red Light District next to the Moulin Rouge. And we (well, Sinead and I) fell deeper in love with books & writers at the storied Shakespeare & Co. in the Latin Quarter (you could practically feel Hemingway and Fitzgerald looming in the background).


One of the most striking things about Paris for me was the stark contast with good ol' London town. Thinking that we were both studying abroad in large European cities, I was sure Sinead and my study abroad experiences were the same. How wrong I was! Paris and London are at opposite ends of the Euro-city spectrum, and by Saturday night I was surprised to be feeling a bit homesick for the hustle and bustle of London life.

It wasn't that Paris isn't hustle and bustle, per se, but it is in such a more refined way. Paris is large and sprawling, compared to the jam-packed London streets I've grown accustomed to. It's also quieter and more neighborhood-y, certainly more serene, and clearly a place for writers to sit and think over a cup or two (or four) of coffee at a sidewalk cafe. London is big and busy; there's no room for sidewalk cafes, and if there were, there'd be no time to sit and sip coffee at them. Its New York-ish in feel, and its that rhythm I've gotten used to. Paris, then, is the most perfect weekend escape from London ever created; the fact that they are 2 hours and less than 100 pounds apart, well...cake.


In all, I'm happy to return to the cheerful busy-ness of London, and to recognize the uniqueness of the happy, crazy little city in which I live. I'm also happy I got to see Sinead soaking up Parisian life just as much, running around the city with her latte and baguette in hand. While I don't know if our roommates loved (or could love/understand) our cities and our city lives quite like we do, I'm glad they came to see it first hand. I really can't say anything else about how great my life is and awesome these four months are, and so I think I'll just leave you with that and some photos. Au revoir!



Eiffel Tower!


Mmm Nutella crepes!



Being Hunchbacks of Notre Dame, of course.

Just like the movie! Except, not really at all...

View from hotel room. Look closely, and there's a man to the left with a baguette and a person right in the center riding their bicycle. Picturesque Paris.