La Fin du Début

Barcelona Beach

I have gotten extremely lazy with this blog (desolee!). I just spent an amazing long weekend in Barcelona, but you'll have to find me in the US of A for the rest of the photos (in addition to my Morocco photos).

I am fully realizing that I only have 2 more full days in Paris. My feelings are mixed. I am certainly excited to go home, but I will miss this place. Paris not only set the stage for, but played a major role in my life this year. I have learned so much and I am excited to see what that will mean for my life back in the states.

But, it's not good bye yet. I have a packed itinerary for the next few days, both with the practical and the fun things I have left to do.

Musee Rodin

On the first sunny and (almost) warm day in a few weeks, a couple friends and I met up at the Musee Rodin. In addition to its indoor permanent collection, it has beautiful gardens with many of Rodin's sculptures.

Of course, the first one we saw was "Le Penseur" or "The Thinker."

The rest of the collection was just as impressive and gave us a chance to brush up on our (apparently minimal) knowledge of mythology (and possibly inspired us to reread The Odyssey).

Ugolin

(who had to eat his children)

La Porte d'Enfer

(The Gate of Hell)

La Cathedrale

(The Cathedral)

L'Hotel Biron

(where the permanent collection is kept)

Definitely one of my favorite museums in Paris!

Musee Arts Decoratifs

As of yesterday, I have only one month left in Paris.

In some ways, I still can't believe it has gone this fast. But there is definitely a big part of me that is ready to be back stateside.  Nonetheless, there are still many things to see and do here.

I crossed one more off my to-do list today with a visit to the Musee Arts Decoratifs, which is in the same 'chateau' as the Louvre. The permanent collection of the museum features jewelry, furniture, clothing, and collectibles. There is also a current exhibition of the work a married couple called the Lalanes. They create pieces that look like animals, but are also functional pieces of furniture. So what looks like a rhino is actually a dresser. A dinner table is surrounded by chairs that look like sheep and set with silverware that looks like lobster claws. The pieces were really beautiful and interesting. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the exhibit, but I snapped a few 'illegal' photos.

 

a herd of sheep chairs

a bird bed

The permanent collection was absolutely stunning. Here are a few of my favs:

it's Paddington Bear!

Pere Lachaise, au printemps

My French Cinema professor assured us this week that the happiest places in Paris right now are the cemetaries. Why? They're in bloom.

Today, we decided to see it for ourselves with a trip to Pere Lachaise, where many celebrities, from Edith Piaf to Delacroix to Jim Morrison, are buried.

the cemetary

George Seurat, the painter

Honore de Balzac, the writer

Delacroix, the artist

Edith Piaf, the singer

One of the best parts of this spring has been revisiting the places I went last fall. The last time I was in Pere Lachaise, it was a cold, cloudy September day. I was completely overwhelmed by the enormous cemetary and nervous about navigating the Metro to a class I had that afternoon. Now, six months later, returning to Pere Lachaise reminded me just how much I have changed and grown comfortable in this city.

Paris, Je T'Aime

I crossed one more off my list of resolutions with:

17. Visit the wall of “je t’aime”

It's a wall in Montmartre, a cute, quaint area in the North of Paris, that has "I love you" written in (almost) every language. A perfect event to share with my Spring abroad family.
 

(there's me! 2nd in from the right)

La Saint Chapelle

Our second stop on Monday was La Saint Chapelle and Le Conciergerie, which were important locations for the French monarchy centuries ago.

La Saint Chapelle (meaning Saint Chapel) is known for its stained-glass, which is truly breathtaking. Each window tells the story of a book of the Bible and the colors are incredible.

a statue of Mary

Our final stop for the day was the Conciergerie, which was most famously used as the prison where Marie Antoinette was held just before her beheading. The famous French revolutionary Robespierre was also held there.

One room contained the lists of everyone "guillotined" during the French Revolution. This is just one panel.

Marie Antoinette's cell

In the basement of the Conciergerie, this line marked the flood waters in 1910.

Pretty tall!

Just when you thought I'd forgotten...

my New Year's Resolution List is BACK! While I had planned (and hoped) to be spending this week showing my family around Paris, an Icelandic volcano had different ideas. So, my friends and I have found ourselves in an unexpected "staycation" in Paris (I know...poor us).

Instead of sulking in our respective homestays, we have decided to take advantage of this week and be the biggest tourists we can be for the sake of those who can't get here. We spent Saturday at the Eiffel Tower, Sunday at Parc Buttes Chaumont, and yesterday our first stop was La Notre Dame de Paris:

2. Climb to the top of the Notre Dame

I had been inside a few times before, this time we made a 400 step climb into "les tours" (the towers) of the cathedral.

If you're wondering, yes. Being stuck in Paris really is as hard as it looks.