back...

I'm back in the good ol' US of A and what's even more unbelievable, I've been here nearly a month. I constantly oscillate between not being able to believe that I once lived in Paris to not being able to believe that I'm already gone.

Life back in Chattanooga has been surprisingly easy to slip back into--I tell myself that that is more a fruit of "cultural flexibility" than some discounting or forgetting of my time in France.
The actual trip home was rather uneventful, and after a few delays, a few cries, and a few in-flight movies, and a few too many goodbyes before all that, I was happy to see my family again, standing patiently at the top of the escalator in the Atlanta airport.

I thought I'd have a lot to say, to wind up this sometime chronicle of my year in Paris, but I'm finding as I write that there's not much to say. Just that the year was one of the best, and most impactful times of my life so far. It was incredible, and it's over for now. I'm back in the States, enjoying my time at home and eagerly looking forward to my return to Paris, planning new ways to get myself abroad. After I get that degree, of course ;)

So. Until the next foray à l'étranger,

emilee

winding down

I have a plane ticket to Atlanta for the 21 of June and all I can say is y'all better hope I get on that flight. No, I'll be on that plane, because if I'm not, I'll be out of a living situtation, a degree, food, and plenty of other necessities. Needless to say, I am not quite feeling that whole "coming home vibe." Part of me is managing to get excited about seeing family and friends again, driving, knowing that there are stores open later than 7h, and enjoying summer heat (Paris is currently struggling with the longest "winter" most people can remember--yesterday I wore a jacket, pants, socks and shoes and my fingers got really cold on the way to the métro). I'm excited to be back and tell my stories in person, to feel like dressing in jeans and a t-shirt to run errands is acceptable, and to bask in the glory of that American value called customer service. But I'm also going to miss dearly being able to walk pretty much anywhere for anything, my little attic room, impromptu saturday lunches of salad, paté, baguette and red wine. I'll be sad to leave my host family and all the crazy meals and conversations, my friends and stupid times with my roommate. I'll miss the how intensely carefree my life is here and desperately trying to speak in french. Greeting people with a kiss on each cheek, and chatting with my crêpe man. Alright, if I continue in this vein, things will soon get boring--I will assume you all get the idea by now.

I'm posting pictures from this last month or so--since the last post. Some of them I took while on an extended mosey yesterday in the sunshine, and I wouldn't have them if things had gone as originally planned. A weekend in Stockholm was the plan, but things fell through, as they sometimes do. Disappointment? Of course. But when you step back and think about it, a weekend in Paris really isn't too shabby.

These pictures are all out of order, so hold on to your seats.

My host dad, Jean-Jacques, and host brother, Olivier. This was monday lunch on the french Labor Day. Please note the berets and the piece of paper rolled up to look like a cigar in Olivier's mouth. Craziness ensues chez Jean-Jacques anytime most of the family's over for a celebration. It's a shame I don't have a video of these two singing french drinking songs and playing with their berets.

Near where my friend Tiff lives, métro Odéon.

Muguets (lillies of the valley) that Chantal gave to my roommate and I for Labor Day. They're traditional "portes bonheurs," or good luck charms.

Fontaine de Medicis in the Jardins du Luxembourg, complete with nose, mouth, and chin. Every now and again, this fountain is used to exhibit modern art. The most recent installation.

One of my buses. Not too exciting, but something I see a lot.

Also in the Luxembourg Gardens, this guy hanging up in the branches.

Part of the same display as the previous picture. One of the entrances to the garden has been lined with bamboo, the ground covered in blue sand, and these fabric photos hung up. I don't exactly know what it's all about, but thought it was interesting.

Bibliothèque François Mitterand. It's the national library (kind of like the Library of Congress) near my house. It's four buildings that are supposed to look like open books.

Again (like the bus shot) not too exciting, but something I see all the time--the view from my bed out of my skylight.

On the sidewalk that I use to get to school. There's another little section that comes first which reads "Celia, je t'aime" (Celia, I love you), and it's followed by this set which translates to "You are the most beautiful."This repeats for a few feet, and it cheers me up on the way to class.

Meringues as big as your head.

Pique-nique on the Seine.

The cow parade has come to Paris. This one's an hommage to the famous french rooftops.

A few crumbly bits behind Notre Dame.

Crazy column, eh? It's in a little church called St. Severin.

Met up with my cousin Jason and his wife Anita Kay one night for dinner while they were in town for a couple of days. Note presence of uncontrolable chunk of bang hair. Oh, and don't be fooled by the summer dress--it was FREEZING. But worth it to have a fun dinner with some family I hadn't seen in a while.

From dinner with Jason and Anita Kay. I thoroughly enjoyed my steak tartar as well as the bewildered looks on my cousins' faces. Oh, the things you learn to eat. (By the way, steak tartar is raw ground beef, with lots of yummy seasonings.)

That's all you get for now, guys. Hopefully I'll at least get in one more update before I fly out!

picture attack! in reverse order...

It's been a while, and plenty has been going on. So here's the picture update. Incidentally, in reverse order, since I somehow can't move my pictures around and well, that's just the way it is. So enjoy!

This is my silhouette at an exposition I went to today at the Palais de Tokyo. They had these cool lights moving around in the rather dark area, and my narcissistic side couldn't resist taking a few pics of my own shadow. There's another one a little lower down.

Oh, Paris. Cold and rainy the on the last day of April. At least there are different umbrellas to look at.

Fat Batman hanging from the ceiling in the Palais de Tokyo. Most likely a statement about American excess, but mostly just funny.

The other silhouette. You can kind of tell that my hair is all frizzy from the pouring rain...

The sign (at the train station near Giverny)--"Here rent Bicycles"

The roommate (D'yon) and myself in part of Monet's gardens at Giverny. Look how we love each other. Recognize the bridge in the background?

The pictures at Giverny weren't the best, since the weather was really grey...but there's that bridge you might've seen before again.

And here's where my nerdiness comes in. There were tons of beautiful flowers at Monet's digs, and most of them being my favorite flower (tulips) and amazing colors, I took way to many boring flower pictures. Then, to make things worse, I couldn't decide which ones to put on the blog, so put on way too many! I suppose there are those who will enjoy them!

This one's fuzzy (as are a few of them) but the colors are amazing so you have to look at them anyway.

Monet's House.

Gah--I love these colours together--they're so striking. And in the same flower in this case!

More of the red and yellow I like so much together.

A little street in Giverny--it's really like a small neighborhood, where Monet lived. Quaint would be the word.

My roommate (again) with her men on the train ride to Giverny. On the left is her boyfriend, Pierre-Alexandre, one of the guys we met in Prague. We're all buddies.

Just like this one. Window out onto paris rooftops from my friend Tiff's seventh-floor studio.

And Tiffy herself. A good friend of mine from class last semester. She's german (like most of my friends, it seems), from Munich. The wine's in the foreground because of the cork you can barely see that fell in. We thought we should commemorate her adorable klutziness with a photo.

I like to call these two my "Annes Allemandes" because they're both named Anne, and they're both German (that's what Allemand means in French). A great picture of two dear friends!

With my Annes, we did all of the major tourism for Paris over a long weekend. This is Place de la Bastille (where the prison used to be), where I introduced them to the joys of panini on the steps of the Opera.

The Louvre at sunset. With a bit of the pyramid.

The Cemetery in Montmartre. And tulips. I love springtime.

The Annes again, at the top of Sacre Coeur.

My friend Courtney doing Su-Doku to pass the night in the Madrid airport on the way back from Tenerife during Spring break.

Joanna shuffling cards...probably around 3 am in the Madrid airport--long night.

My first poker game. Still in the airport.

On the way to the airport-- the volcanic mountains of Tenerife--the one of the Canary Islands we stayed at.

Alright, same deal as the flowers. Too many pictures of the sunset on the beach. But whatever, you know you love it.

Dusk on the Beach with (l-r) Joanna and Courtney.

Beach feet!

Charles de Gaulle (called Roissy by the natives) waiting for the plane to take us to the SUN and the SAND and the FUN!

Hyacinths at the park near my house earlier this month.

The first real spring day of the year. D'yon's and my feet bare in the sunshine, a good book in my lap, and fresh fruit in a beautiful park.

Sorry all you got were captions...but that's just gonna have to do. Enjoy the pictures, at least!