Au Revoir, Paris

I find it awesome that the French don't have a word for "Goodbye". Au revoir is translated as goodbye most of the time, but it really means "until we meet again". Then there's salut, which means "see you later", a demain is "until tomorrow", a plus "later" and a bientot is "until next time". So I guess when I say au revoir to Paris, I am not really saying goodbye, because there is no word in the language to say it.

As I have said many times before in the last week or so, I really don't want to leave. It's not that I don't want to go home, I just don't want to leave the city that I am just starting to get to know. I am able to walk down the street and get lost and find my way without using a map or asking for directions. My internal compass is now in tune with Paris. I had a whole conversation today with a lady in a shop, and some guy asked we what time is was, ans I answered. ALL IN FRENCH! I am making a lot of friends who live here in France, and we spent our evenings in the kitchen trading French and English, and all of us trying to speak French but sometimes it would transition into franglais! I have met so many interesting people, and I am so suprised at how fast I made some great friends while here. I wish I could stay forever.

I had an amazing week. I spent most everyday just hanging out and enjoying my last week here. On Monday we had a great French style dinner with our group CEA that lasted 3 hours....awesome! And it was really good food too. Too bad it was our going away dinner! On Tuesday I spent the afternoon and evening with my Institut Catholique friends who were all leaving on Wednesday. We spent the afternoon cooking and having fun, then went to the Latin Quarter for a Greek Pita and a last crepe au chocolat and sat along the Seine drinking bottles of rosé and eating a baguette and nutella...trés français, non? Once again, a weird man sat down next to us, but that happens here in Paris, not much you can do about it except get up and leave. We were wandering around about 11 pm and it was just so awesome!!

It made me sad when a lot of my friends left, but that just meant that I got a lot of time to spend with my Sorbonne friends! Yesterday (Wednesday) I went with 4 friends to Mezzo di Pasta, a great little pasta place we have all fallen in love with. Then I wandered around the Latin Quarter, spent an hour inside Gibert Jeune, the famous bookstore (mostly because it was nearly 100 degrees out and it was airconditioned...but I did need some books for the flight home) and got an Amorino, which is this great Italian glace shop that fashions your ice cream into flowers...how awesome is that? I got lemon and strawberry, but their chocolate is to die for! I just wandered for a good three hours, making sure to go to the Star of Paris, which says that if you touch it and make a wish to come back, you will. I did it last time, and it worked! :D Then I went to a friend's apartment for a potluck, which lasted well into the night and I just had fun hanging with people and eating good food. I love the people that I have met on this trip.

And today, I had my last class at the Sorbonne. I passed my classes, yay! I just needed credit from them for Cal Poly. I then spent the afternoon packing, and going to the CEA office to take care of last minute items. I really don't want to go home!

Well, I want to return to Paris, and not just for vacation. If I could figure out a way to live here for more than a month I will jump on it! I also want to travel around more of the European countries, because I feel like I have been here twice but only visited France. I would really like to go to Spain and Germany and England, and visit all of the cool places there. I can't wait until I have enough money to come back and do this a different way.

Well, au revoir Paris, and the next time any of you will be hearing from me I will be back on the other side of the world!

Lesley