little things

Things I missed while I was in Paris/look forward to coming home to (in no specific order):

• friends and family (of course) and the holiday season!
  
• showers that actually work and that are not disgusting
  
• english speaking people
  
• a comfy bed
  
• cupcakes
  
• in n out burgers
  
• good chinese food
  
• the beach
  
• warm weather- sun that actually gives warmth!
  
• Target! and american convenience stores, where things are not so expensive.
  
• space. everything in the city is so compact and cramped.
  
• a complete wardrobe (i've been living out of a suitcase for 4 months here)
  
• no more public transportation! I really don't have a huge problem with it, except when it closes at midnight, and after a tiring day of class when everyone is squished in the metro during rush hour getting all up in your personal space. Talk about claustrophobia. 
  
• just being home.
  

I know my list isn't very deep, but sometimes, its the little things in life that matter.

my parisian life

photo credits

I can't believe I'm packed. I'm currently sitting on the bed in my empty room, waiting to go to the airport.

How did these months go by so fast? My time here went from 4 months to a day in a blink of an eye. When I go out, I walk the streets completely aware that it may be the last time I see any of it, for a long, long time. I savor the leaves on the sidewalk, my walk to the market, the smell of the hallways in my building. As much as I've missed life back home, and I'm really looking forward to going back, don't get me wrong, a little part of me is sad to be leaving. 

I'm really going to miss this place. I know that very soon, I'm going to be caught up with life back in San Diego, applying to a new job or grad school, and Paris is going to seem like a distant dream. That makes me a little bit sad. I'll have the memories and the photographs, but it won't be the same. Standing under the Eiffel Tower is thrilling every single time no matter how many times I've done it, and looking at a photograph just doesn't do it justice. The same goes for Notre Dame, and the Louvre. 

In the course of my 4 months here, Paris became home. I have the route I take to class, the market I go to, the boulangerie I like to stop at after class. I even have my favorite staircase at the Louvre. I have my list of 'bests'- the best bread in Paris (the market around the corner), best tarte au citron (eric kayser), best crepes (le petit grec), best falafel (the marais). I know the metro routes I frequent like the back of my hand. I've seen the Luxembourg gardens in the fresh green of summer, the changing leaves of fall, and the snow covered branches of winter. 

Somewhere in the middle of getting lost on the way home from class and the whirlwind of final exams, I stopped being a tourist, and began to live in Paris. 

I stopped worrying about seeing all the things I wanted to see, because I had seen them all. I stopped noticing the differences between life in Paris and life back in California. Life in Paris wasn't so different from back home- I had class, ran errands, met up with friends- it just took place in the backdrop of the Pantheon, Eiffel Tower, and Montmartre. My life here became the norm, a home base that I looked forward to coming back to after my excursions. After all, home is something you always come back to, right? And I have a hunch that from now on, Paris is one of them. 

snow!

It's snowing in Paris!! 

Due to final exams, I was up at an ungodly hour this morning, when the streets of Paris were still dark and no coffee shop was open. So guiltily, I set up shop in a Starbucks right by campus to cram in some last-minute studying and defrost my fingers. Just as I was getting ready to walk to my final, it began to snow! By the time I got out of my exam 2 hours later, the streets were blanketed in a sheet of white, and snow was falling through the air like rain. I walked over to the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero, then the Champs Elysees and the Louvre to say my last goodbyes, and got my shoes soaking wet. It was worth it though. Snow! In Paris! 

What a way to end my stay. 

CAMELS!

In Morocco. 

RODE A CAMEL TODAY.

it. was. awesome. 

I've also been getting some vitamin D into my sunlight-deprived skin. 

I will update with pictures and commentary soon! 

faux fur

fur in Paris. photo credits

 

Women in Paris have this thing about fur. Or faux fur. Not just the lined collars, but the all-out mink coats and rabbit skin vests. I see them on the metro, in my classes, and on the streets. Worn by trendy young girls as well as rich old ladies. 

I mean, there has to be some reason they're exploding onto the shelves of H&M. People actually buy this stuff and wear it on the streets. And its not cheap. Just google "winter fashion in Paris."

Maybe its because I live in an area of CA where you never need more than a sweatshirt and flip-flops, or I'm used to laid-back UCSD where people look at you funny if you're not in the compulsory jeans/sweats attire. Maybe its a cold climate thing? In LA/SD the closest I ever get to animal hide is Uggs and the occasional leopard-print clubbing attire (worn on other people, of course). Maybe if I visit New York City, people will be trooping the streets in their furs. (Actually, deep down I fear PETA will come after me if I don the animal pelts) Either way, whenever I see people walk the streets in their furry costumes my mind can't resist the "I can't believe she's wearing that" comment. I'm by no means one of those crazy animal rights activists, and I'm not one to preach on what they should and should not be wearing, but you'll never see one of those on me.