Last day of vacation is tomorrow... So sad :(

**Warning, this post is a bit longer than normal. ;)

Bonjour,

Wow, as I sit down to write this post, it's already 4:30pm on my last free day of vacation. Where has the time gone? And I still haven't written my meditation for culte (chapel) in class for next Tuesday. I have no idea what to write about - it's not something I thought I would really ever be doing in English, let alone in French. I also have no idea what Bible verse I want to base it on… maybe something to do with wanting to be beyond where you are (as I want to be fluent long before it’s possible).

This week has been a pretty wonderful week. As you all know, I moved onto campus. I think the last day I wrote about was Monday, so here is the rest of the week.

Tuesday - Ahh! such a wonderful day. I slept in a bit (not as late as Monday), then got ready to go to the Barrs with Anna and Annina. The metro system took a bit longer than we planned. Aka, we waited for 30 minutes at the Massy-Verrières stop before we could get a train to take the Massy-Palaiseau stop to transfer to another train that actually continued to the end of the B-line (all of these stops were on the B-line, it's just that no train stopped at Massy-Verrières that went to the end). Once we finally got there, it was completely worth it. We had a wonderful time. Cameron and TJ (two other former students at Les Cedres) were there as well, so it was a full house. We ate a late lunch (it was after 3) and had pumpkin pie!!! That was the main point of going to Les Chevreuse, of course ;)  Afterwards, we walked up to the château overlooking the village and watched the sun set. Anna and Annina took lots of photos (I took some too, but they are much better photographers), of which I have posted a few below. Before leaving, Carol gave us each all the ingredients we needed to make our own pumpkin pies – how great is that?!

 Walking to the Barr's

 

Pie and Lunch!

Walking through Chevreuse and the Chateau

Getting back to Massy proved to be a bit of an adventure again… Because the Massy-Verrières stop is a small stop, not every train stops there. I think we waited at least 30 minutes (if not more) again for a train that went to our destination. Oh well, it was not nearly as bad as if I was waiting on my own. On our walk back to the school, we stopped and got kebabs for dinner Tuesday, and to have leftovers for dinner Wednesday. After eating, we watched an episode of Arrow online. I have to say, living at the school really does free up my time and makes it much more feasible to do things comme ça. :)

Wednesday – Anna, Annina and I went into Paris. We left the school just after 10 and went to La Place de la Concorde where you can get some really nice shots of le Tour Eiffel, l’Obélisque, and general architecture in France. 

We then walked down l’Avenue des Champs Elysee toward l’Arc de Triomphe...

 ...and stopped in a beautiful café named Laduree. Oh, my. I will probably never pay so much for a shot of espresso ever again in my life, but … It was so worth it. We had planned to stop there, so we were all dressed in dresses (with leggings or tights because it would have been too cold without them) and carried our heels in just for this. Again, it was beautiful. We also had macaroons, treated to us by Annina, and we just sat and talked and drank our tea or coffee and took pictures for at least an hour, possibly more. Again, pictures below courtesy of Anna and Annina (or at least of their cameras – I did take a few). 

Annina's Tea, Anna's Cappuccino, and my Espresso 

 My Espresso

Chocolate

 The Menu

After leaving Laduree, we walked the rest of the way to l’Arc de Triomphe and just took in the grandeur of Paris. 

A crêpe stand on a bicycle                              

Our next stop was at the Sacre Coeur. After exiting the metro, we meandered up the street, stopping in some of the shops along the way and taking some pictures. 

Once we reached the top (just below the actual cathedral) we sat on the steps and ate lunch, looking over the city. We also got some unexpected entertainment during our meal. A street performer was manipulating and dancing with a soccer ball, while standing on a pillar at the top of the steps, and even hanging from the lamppost at times. I have to say, he was very talented and had marvelous control of the ball. 

After our lunch and show, we walked through the Sacre Coeur. (You are not allowed to take photos inside, but here are some close-up photos)

 
As it was now close to 5 (I think, though perhaps it was nearly 6) we decided we should walk through Montmartre before it got too dark. That was lots of fun as well. We just walked around, enjoying the art, stopping in the shops. 

I bought a mug for myself, which I priced all evening before actually buying it (and changed my mind on which one was my favorite). 

And, yes that is a spoon in the handle

On our way down from Montmartre, we decided it would be a complete oversight to not see Paris by night from the steps of the Sacre Coeur, so we made our way back there and looked out over the city again before walking down to the metro and going back to Les Cedres. There we ate dinner (our leftover kebabs) and watched another episode of Arrow  :)

Thursday was another lazy day – didn’t do much myself, other than sleep, read, watch tv, etc.

Friday – Went to Mimi’s! I had a lovely day with Mimi. We just talked, watched Pearl Harber, I opened a package from Michelle and Annalea (thanks guys!) and baked a pumpkin pie (yes, from what Carol gave me), ate supper and got back to Les Cedres at about 11pm.

Today, Saturday, I have finished my homework, have not written my meditation, typed up this blog…by the way, it’s 5:30 and I need to go make supper for the three of us (Anna, Annina, and I), so I’ll post this with the pictures later this evening.

A bientôt!

Okay – it’s 9:40 and I think it’d time this thing got posted. - or more like 12:34 now that all the pictures are finally uploaded...

Night y'all.