Au Revoir to my Travels

May 4th? Really? I can't believe that this is my last week of classes...this semester has truly flown by. I couldn't have thought of a better way to close out my travels then this past weekend's trip to Paris. Thursday night Marc and I left Florence, with two girls on our program (Kelsey and Liz), for the final time. After two flights (we had a connecting flight in Frankfurt) and a long metro ride, we were finally in the heart of Paris where we met Marc's good friend Aaron Miller, who was our host for the weekend. After grabbing a crepe (how else could you start a trip in Paris???) we dropped off the girls at their hostel and went to Aaron's apartment to get some sleep, because it was going to be a crazy few days. We woke up around 10 on Friday morning, with the plan of going to the Pompiduo (a really cool modern art museum), Jewish Quarter, Eifel Tower and the Louvre all before dinner. Unfortunately, May 1st happens to be Labor Day in France so all the museums (and most of the stores for that matter) were closed. Quickly, we audibled and decided to start the day off with lunch. After all, we had heard so much about the falafel in the Jewish Quarter and were excited to try it. Our first meal in Paris was definitely a success as the rumors of the falafel were true, and I am now even more excited for Israel! After lunch our day continued with a nice walk through the heart of Paris where we walked along the Seine River and walked by the Notre Dame, Pantheon, and through the Luxembourg Gardens before we finally needed to sit down and relax. I am not sure there are many better places in Europe to sit and relax than in the Luxembourg Gardens, as they were absoulutely beautiful. After getting our legs back and giving our feet a rest it was time for the main attractions. First stop, Eifel Tower. Not to say that I wasn't expecting to be in awe of the structure, but it absolutely floored me. Talk about something you need to see to believe, it was incredible to be right next to it and see just how dominant it is in comparison to the rest of the Paris skyline. After a good amount of time spent gawking at the massive structure, it was off to the Arc de Triumphe, which was just as massive and beautfiul as the Eifel Tower. By now, it was almost 6:30 and we were all spent, so we went back to our respective places to get ready for dinner. I have had a lot of really fun meals since I have been abroad, and this Foundue place definitely was up there. The restaurant was small and lively, with two long tables where you better like the people sitting next to you because they are practically sharing your meal and conversation with you. After enough bread, cheese, oils, meats and wine to feed an army, it was time to go experience the Paris nightlife. Aaron took us to one of his favorite bars, which was situated on a docked boat on the Seine, for a fun night. Since all of the museums were closed on Friday, we started early again on Saturday with the plan of seeing both the Louvre and an Andy Worhol exhibit before climbing the Arc de Triumphe. We got to the Louvre early, and again I was astounded by the utter size of the place. It used to be the King's castle, and he must have gotten lost daily because this place was gigantic. After waiting in a little bit of a line and walking through the new (as my mom put it, but its actually close to 20 years old) pyramid enterance we really only wanted to see three things; the Mona Lisa, the Nike of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo. Luckily for us, the Louvre was free for students that day so we didn't feel guilty peacing after seeing the above mentioned trio (by the way, the Mona Lisa is the most over-hyped piece of art in the world, it is tiny and way too crowded to get a good view of...sorry). After getting a great sandwich for lunch, we walked through the Royal garden on the way to the Andy Warhol exhibit. Althogh the exhibit was missing some of his more well-known paintings (i.e. the Campbell's Soup Can) the hundreds of portraits were really cool and he definitely was a crazy man. After two museums in one day, it was safe to say that the Pompiduo will have to be saved for another trip to paris, as all I wanted to do was clumb the Arc de Triumphe and pass out. The view from the top of the Arc de Triumphe was incredible, although we didnt climb the eifel tower, this view (which includes the Eifel tower) was incredible and left me pretty satisfied. Before dinner we enjoyed a nice little wine and cheese tasting at Aaron's place before heading around the corner for some authentic French Cuisine. After a great dinner (I'm pretty sure i had briskett, but definitely not complaining) we decided we needed to see the Eifel Tower at night and it is quite a spectacle. Nothing is more incredible then watching it sparkle for about 5 minutes, and we got a good amount of pictures (although its just not the same). Well, that's that. 3 months and 11 countries later, I now have 12 days left abroad, and I will be only leaving Firenze for a day trip to cinque terre sometime this upcoming weekend. It has been a phenomenal semester and I am both physically and financially beat. I will try to get these Paris pictures up sometime in the next few days, and I will give a few closing posts between now and Israel. You know the drill. Until Next time...

A Presto,

JK