ONE WEEK?? Well, technically one week and 4 days until I leave Europe, but I leave France one week from today! It is absolutely crazy how fast time has flown. There is so much left to do and not nearly enough time to do it. The past 2 weeks have most definitely gone the fastest. Easter weekend was such fun. Even though France is a neutral country (religiously), Easter is clearly a big holiday. Everyone gets monday off work, and many Parisians leave town. I chose to spend the day with Laurel. We started off the fresh, sunny morning with homemade crepes (made by yours truly), then headed to Chatelet-Les Halles to go to mass at St Eustache. While this church is a bit more off the grid than a church such as Notre Dame, it is certainly not understated. Probably the size of one and a half Notre Dames, it is an early gothic church built around 1200. The service was lovely. Not very touristy and filled with mostly locals, it was such an interesting experience to attend. The catholic Easter tradition is very different from that of the Protestant, yet equally as moving. The music was spectacular and the ambiance was joyful and calm at the same time. Surprisingly enough, I understood close to 90% of the service which I was not expecting, in part because the priest spoke rather slowly.
On Tuesday night, Helene returned home from her town of Vosges, so I made dinner for the three of us. Sonia supplied the desserts. Originally intending to make lavender roast chicken, that plan was foiled when I realized I only know how to use our broiler and not our oven. Instead I turned to a staple of my mother's: Korean marinated milanese steaks and arugula salad with grilled bread and spring onions. While I maintain it was not my best meal, Helene and Sonia were kind enough to gush over it. This weeks family dinners have been bittersweet because we know the end is coming. Helene has truly been the best host mother I could have asked for and was an incredible blessing considering my past host family experiences. After she left on Saturday, I came home to find a giant chocolate rooster and basket sitting on my bedside table with an Easter note. I cannot wait to come back to Paris and visit her.
Knowing that we only have one week left has also made preparing for finals that much more difficult. I don't want to stay in my room and study when I could be checking off my bucket list?? Who do they think we are...students?? I just think it would be much more practical to have finals a week before we leave, not the week of.
A wonderful thing happened this week as well. I had the chance to meet up with a good friend whom I had not seen for 12 years! (it made me feel quite old). Adrian Merrick moved away when we were 9 and I have not seen her since. Coincidentally we are both study in Paris and decided to meet up at a cafe for coffee. Coffee turned into 5 hours of catching up on all we had missed. 12 years later and we are still the same little girls with a love for old movies and tea. Fantastic and surreal, it felt like nothing had changed.
No comments:
Post a Comment