More pictures of final weeks in Paris with friends

The beginning of the end

A few weeks ago, I spent a final weekend in Freiburg with Brett. Although Brett had to attend a model E.U. with his study abroad program that weekend, we did lots of things together during the nights. On Sunday, we were even able to spend the whole day together. We both had lots of work to do to prepare for finals and finish up our classes, so I spent most the days studying, though.

My last trip to Freiburg was perfect. We ate Schnitzel twice. We went to our favorite brewery. We went to our favorite beer garden. We also went hiking through the black forest in a downpour. I visited the Danube, which happens to run through Freiburg. I ate lots of pretzels, too. Mostly, it was very relaxing and nice to be in my favorite German city again. I can't really describe the experience, but I think the pictures do it more justice. Freiburg is a wonderful city with lots of hidden corners to explore. I'm so glad I had a chance to visit it so many times.

As I left the train station on Monday morning, I felt I had given Freiburg a proper final goodbye. Rolling into Paris, I felt bittersweet, because I had already started my goodbyes to the places that have been so wonderful to me during my stay here. A few weeks later, now, and I'm sitting in my apartment for the last night. My bags are packed, my finals are finished, and I'm off tomorrow to meet Brett, and then Friday, my mom for a week more of Paris, and then I must leave for the final time.

My friends and I in Paris have been going out a lot lately, since we know that tomorrow everyone will be leaving. I spent last weekend watching the Eiffel Tower twinkle on the lawn in front of Trocadero with a few friends, and the next night I met them in our favorite hang out: St. Michel. Yesterday, we went out to a nice dinner in the Latin Quarter, and tonight we will meet up for one last time, before we say goodbye. Walking the little streets in the Latin Quarter today, I felt so comfortable with all that surrounded me. I've been to most of the restaurants and shops down Rue de la Huchette. I even have a favorite place to buy crepes.

But I'm also ready to leave Paris for new adventures. This summer, I will be in Tuscany, Italy. So look forward to a new blog about my Italia experiences. For now, au revoir, although I will probably update again before I leave Paris for the last time next week.

Leah

A weekend in Normandy and Brittany

Last weekend, I headed to Normandy with my study abroad program to visit Mont St. Michel, and then to Brittany to visit St. Malo. We took a bus from Paris early in the morning to get to Mont St. Michel. The bus ride was supposed to take 3 hours, but it ended up taking closer to 5 hours, because our driver got lost and had to turn around a bunch of times.

When we finally made it to Mont St. Michel, we had lunch at a converted barn. Lunch was just ok; the best part was definitely the apple tart at the end. The whole meal took forever though, we must have been at the restaurant for 2.5 hours eating course after course of food. Finally, we were finished, and made our way over to Mont St. Michel.

Mont St. Michel is a monastery in the English channel. The tides there are extremely strong here. Mont St. Michel itself is an island, but during low tide, it looks like a rock in the desert, because the shore is so far away. When the tide rises, it rises 1 meter per second! It can rise up to 45 feet at high tide.

When we went, it was low tide, and beautiful. We had a guided tour of the monastery, where monks and nuns still live. The abbey itself reminded me of a Spanish mission in southern California with lots of nooks and crannys and gardens and chapels everywhere. The views from the top were magnificent.

After Mont St. Michel, we left for Granville, a small coast town where we stayed for the night. We had dinner at our youth hostel and then a group of us went to a cafe where I had two servings of raspberry sorbet. After that, I was tired, and went to bed early, knowing that we'd be waking up early.

The next morning we left for St. Malo, a town in Brittany, also on the coast. For us being so far north, I was shocked to see that St. Malo's beach looked like the caribbean. The water was crystal clear, there were boats sailing int the distance, the sun was shining just right. The only thing that made it seem unlike the Caribbean was the fact that there was an island with a big fort/castle on it off in the distance. Nevertheless, that town was simply gorgeous.

We had lunch at a cafe, and were served a plate of seafood for our appetizer. We got these huge plates full of crawfish, crab legs, snails, and oysters. I wasn't exactly sure how to eat all of it. I had about 3 different sized forks and then a cracking device. It was quite an adventure. The crawfish looked like they were still alive because their little eyes stared back at me while I tore them apart. It was also my first time trying oysters, which I'm not sure if I'm a big fan because of their snotty texture.

We had to leave shortly after lunch to make it back to Paris at a decent time. So we hopped in the bus for another really long ride. This time, we watched a film called La Vie en Rose about Edith Piaf. It was horribly depressing, just like most every French film I've seen. Today I'm in Freiburg for one last time with Brett, but I'll write more about that later. Next week is my last week in school, and then my mom and Brett are coming to Paris to visit for 10 days. So my time in France is quickly coming to a close. As much as I'll miss France, I'm ready for the next adventure ahead this summer in Tuscany. Stay tuned.

Leah