Le Printemps!

The flowers have finally started to bloom, the trees' haze around the branches is no longer gray but green, and it has stopped raining (for now). Yes, I do believe it is springtime in Paris!

Last week, it was a high of 60*F all week. While it may have been a fluke, I took every moment I had to soak in the sun. Whether it was a trip to the Luxumbourg gardens for the afternoon, a walk home from school, or simply sitting at a cafe and taking in the sun, I was a very happy girl last week. Well, after Wednesday anyway...

I started my week with a trip to London for 24 hours to visit Dad. My camera died as soon as I got there and all I got was this picture of the Sherlock Holmes Pub near our hotel. We dined on fish and chips, and strolled London on another glorious day (a rarity I was assured). While our time together was too short, it was so nice to see family after this long time away from home. Hint, hint, to you all...

I then returned to Paris for a few days of midterm hell, but I made it through. I celebrated by making a picnic on the Champs de Mars in front of the Eiffle Tower, where I promptly passed out in the sun. As I was leaving the park, I found a dog-run, and I heard this huge bark. I turned around and there was a Harlequin Great Dane like Harvey; I immediately started to cry. Don't worry, Harvey was obviously cuter.

I had a friend from GW staying with me this week, Juliette, so I played tour guide, which is always a nice reminder of how much I really do love Paris. I've decided (to the chagrin of some, I'm sure) that if I were to go to cooking school, I would have to do it here, no question. We went to the Orangerie, one of my favorite museums here, the Marais for falafels and vintage shopping, and a food market on Avenue President Wilson where I wanted to buy everything I saw. I ended up buying some olives and strawberries. The olive vendor knew instantly that I was American and asked if I wanted 50 kilos of olives; and then laughed at me. The strawberry vendor told me in French he was having a two-for-one sale on strawberries, so did I want 2 kilos? I said, sure, why not? Little did I know that I had just purchased enough strawberries to feed an army. I'm still working on my metric conversions.

I am half way done with my program, and I don't know where the time has gone. I have another friend coming to visit me in April, then I'm off to Florence for Easter weekend, followed by Amsterdam the next. Mom is coming to visit me at the end of April, and then it's May! I hope to get to the south of France then, and hopefully conclude my time in Europe with a week in Greece at the end of the semester.

Bisous,
Remy