Sitting In A Park in Paris, France

Jour quatre-vingt huit

...began and ended my last day in Paris, France.

Je t'aime, Paris, et tu me manques. À tout à l'heure, j'espère que c'est bientôt.

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois,

b

Jour quatre-vingt sept

...began our last 24 hours in Paris.

It was also Sutton's birthday, so we had a late lunch on the Champs-Élysées,

And then, at Rox and my request, we all finally got to go on the Ferris Wheel!

We gathered at Madame's for the very last time for delicious cake, and a hilarious secret santa gift exchange.

Then the waterfall of emotions started (with Trish, as usual) but overcame all of us, as we said our tearful goodbyes for the next couple hours.

And then we had to pack. Thank you Shae bear.

Most the day today, I was alone. I wandered through Paris on my own, taking the metro and the bus from place to place, getting lost, while eating a baguette, standing on street corners turning 360 degrees and taking in every sight, smell, and sound of this place I came to call home.

A demain,

b

Jour quatre-vingt six

...began with this winter shot on the way to the metro and lots of last minute gift shopping and running around town.

Then it was time for our closing dinner. But first, Madame said she wanted to do "something crazy, but not too crazy so we don't get arrested" so we sang on the subway. We sang every Christmas chanson we could think of for the next 8 stops, surprisingly got lots of smiles and even a soulful backup singer who wanted to join.

For dinner, we ate the best fondue and raclette until we could no longer eat again.

Except there's always room for Creme Brulée of course.

Afterwards, we walked and found a club du jazz.

And our second to last night together was a good one.

A demain,

b

Jour quatre-vingt cinq

...began with this photo-op at the PARIS sign at Chateau de Vincennes.

Then we went to the La Defense Christmas market which was very picturesque and provided us with the most deliciously thick hot cocoa and kettle corn and many cute things to look at.

After that, it was home for dinner, Little Women, and beginning to pack.

A demain,

b

Jour quatre-vingt quatre

...began our last full day all together. It started with our religion final, where Monsieur Euvrard went pretty easy on us, and provided us with 2 giant boxes of Lindt chocolates for sustenance. Then it was our last devotional. Our great committee planned a musical devotional so everyone contributed with song and word. And afterwards, Madame, who could hardly speak through her tears, expressed her love for us and lectured us about not using the word "last" because it's a four letter word and because our love for one another will continue, even after Paris.

We ate lunch for the last time at Defrère, the same place we ate lunch for the first time. And we all went to the Champs-Élysées Christmas market all evening. It was perfect.

We had to head home for dinner with our families.

Then we bundled up in every layer possible around 9 o clock and took the train back in to Paris

so we could climb that one tower one last time.

We took thousands of pictures of course and just enjoyed being up there together looking over our Paris and reminiscing. At one point, I walked around to the other side, turned on this song: "And the World Turned" by The Gabe Dixon Band

and I just relished in that moment and all that had happened in the last 3 months, and all that had changed in me.

And while we were up there, the most incredible thing happened. I, being the annoying videographer that I am, made everyone yell "Paris 2010" at once. On my cue, they did it. And as soon as the words came out of their 18 mouths, it happened to turn 11 o'clock and the Eiffel started to sparkle. It was the most magical and incredible moment for us on our last night together.

We stayed up there for as long as possible, being the only group on top of our friend, the incredible Eiffel.

Then the goodbyes began with Spencer. The end finally started to become a reality for us as we bid our good friend adieu.

A funny comparison of our first day in Paris together and our last day in Paris together.

A demain,

b

Jour quatre-vingt trois

...began with a continuation of our studies, and lots of snow.

...and ended with a good grade on the art exam, and the bittersweet announcement that our best buddy Spencer was going to be leaving us 2 days early to be there for the homecoming of his younger brother. We were sure to soak up every moment thereafter, when we realized it was the beginning of the end.

A demain,

b

Jour quatre-vingt deux

...began with our last day at church in France. It was a bit emotional, and we stuck around after church until the last possible moment.

Then it was time to face the cold harsh reality that we hadn't studied during our entire sejour to Italy and our art history final was going to take place the next day. So we studied ALL day and night.

And we went a little crazy.

A demain,

b

Giorno ottantuno

...began with St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world, capable of holding 60,000 people, and the place where the Pope himself speaks to the church.

Then began the most hectic and stressful journey back to France. Running through Rome for 6 miles due to total closure of the train stations, running to the hostel, running to the shuttle, missing the shuttle, waiting for the next shuttle, taking the shuttle to the airport, waiting for the flight, taking off, turning the plane around 30 minutes in, due to technical problems, taking off again, landing, taking the shuttle to the metro, taking the metro to the RER, taking the RER to le Pecq, and walking home. A.d.v.e.n.t.u.r.e.