Spring Break

After three months of classes and a wonderful visit from the parents, spring break finally came and is now coming to a close. Originally, Laurel and I considered visiting the UK for our free week, however the gloomy Paris weather drove us, instead, to the Cote d'Azur in the south. A week of Nice and Monaco were indeed the perfect tonic to what had been a very long winter. I hadn't realized how much I missed the beach until I smelled the salt and felt the breeze. The last time I visited the Mediterranean Sea I was only 2, so essentially this was my first time. While absolutely gorgeous, blue water, calm waves, it is very different than the Pacific Ocean beaches I am used to. The beach is not sand, but instead made up of lots of fist sized rocks. These are perfectly fine to sit and lay on, but they make getting in and out of the ocean very difficult and hard on the feet. The culture is also very different. Umbrellas are hard to come by and there are equal numbers of young people and old people baking in the sun. There appears to be far less concern for sun damage. After soaking up some much needed vitamin D, we decided to venture onto Monaco, land-of-plenty, for a day. If one were to combine Disneyland and Las Vegas, add some european flare and a beach, you would come up with Monaco. The palace where the prince still lives today, looks like It's a Small World. There are more yachts in the three harbors than I have ever seen in one place at a time and photos of Grace Kelly line the streets. It really is a beautiful place, it just had a bit of a fake feel. The most fun part for me was getting to visit the Musee Oceanographique where Jacques Cousteau was the director for 32 years. The amazing building sits built into a cliffside over looking the ocean. The entire interior was designed for the aquarium, down to the staircase banisters which are decorated with conch shell sculptures.
It was wonderful to come home to a sunny Paris and it seems that the weather is to remain sunny for the rest of our time here. Wonderful news indeed. It is really crazy that the semester is coming to a close. In total, we have 7 days left of class, 3 days of finals and 2 weekends. Time really flew by. I was walking along the Seine last night on my way home, the moon was full, I could see Notre Dame to my left and the Eiffel Tower to my right. I realized that while I will be happy to go home, I really will miss this place so much. Though the culture may be odd (ex it was 70 degrees this weekend and I got weird looks for wearing shorts) and the cost of living expensive as hell, Paris is a wonderful combination of history and modernity. Traditional is so many ways and cutting edge at others, it is truly awe inspiring.