Thanks to all for the words of encouragement this week…it was definitely appreciated.

My train arrived back in Paris just a few hours ago. The last week was more then a blur but the last 2 days couldn’t have been more perfect. On Thursday morning, Steph and I boarded our train to Champagne for a few days of serious R & R. After spending the first day trekking around the town of Epernay, touring the Moet & Chandon Champagne house and hunting down the only open grocery store (it was All Saint’s Day—a state recognized holiday in France), we checked into our hotel room at 4pm only to fall immediately asleep and crawl out of bed 15 hours later. Obviously it was more then needed.

On Friday, we had our chance to really experience the region and went on a tour of a local grower’s vineyards and production facilities. It was amazing to see the amount of work put toward production and to understand what it truly means to be an artisan completely devoted to your life’s work. Nathalie and Max own 6 hectares of vineyards in Champagne and work year round along with Max’s parents to produce their own family name Champagne. They inherited the land from family and intend to keep it forever—a smart decision as each hectare of Champagne’s limited 35,000 hectares of vineyards is worth upwards of a million Euro. They work year round pruning, maintaining, picking, juicing, fermenting, bottling, labeling, and selling their product and I think they can’t be making much more then an average farmer. The amount of physical labor is unbelievable but you can tell that they truly love their business. Nathalie picked up 5 of us from the tourist office in Epernay and drove us in her 9 person van through the countryside to their home/ B&B to pick up 2 Italian guests (Georgio and Georgia—a very cute couple of newlyweds) before taking us up to her vineyards in the rolling hills above their village. Even though harvest was about a month ago and the leaves have become brown and are falling from the vines, the hills were still gorgeous. Nathalie did not skip a beat and if you ever have any interest I will be happy to share my new expertise in Champagne making with you! (Even when I am on vacation I can’t get away from learning!!) After touring their fermentation/bottling area and caves, we got to taste a few of their wines and left with a bottle of Rosé for Steph’s birthday later this month. This was easily my favorite part of the trip---well, maybe second to the sleep and REAL shower.

Isn't it PRETTY?!

This weekend couldn’t have come at a better time. This last week left me needing to truly reassess what I am doing here and set a few priorities. Sciences Po’s workload has proved to be much more then I originally gauged and I have struggled to accept that much of the remainder of this semester is going to have to be spent with my head in books. I came to Paris as a student—and in particular, to Sciences Po as a student with an intention to work hard in my courses. I also came to Paris as a 20-year old girl with an endless curiosity and a need for adventure. The real trouble comes in balancing the two of these things. This past week it just became too much and after a few discussions with my parents and advisors I decided to try to drop a course. Unfortunately, the “system” isn’t as flexible as I had hoped and it looks like I am stuck unless I want to risk a severe drop in my GPA by accepting an “F”. Solution: Next semester I am only taking 4 classes (as opposed to the 7 now) and am saving my travels and explorations for a time when I can truly enjoy them. For now, I am going to do my best to study IN Paris…in cafés and museums (I have started to become a regular at the Louvre—using my 15Euro/year Carte de Jeunes to gain entry and organize myself in a corner next to a 1500-yr old statue with my book).

Carly, Steph and I have finally come to accept the fact that the American café culture does not exist in Paris. Indeed, Paris’s café culture is much more developed then that of the US—with waiters who know much of their clientele by name—but it is not the student friendly culture that we are in constant need of. When I walk through the streets now, I am constantly staring into the windows of the nearest cafés to see if there is anyone reading or writing—so far no luck. Our sad alternative (as recommended by Steph’s language teacher) is that old time love-hate relation: Starbucks. I’ve been there 3 times in the last week, each time spending at least 4 hours successfully uninterrupted along side C and S.

I made it a necessity to spend some time this break satisfying my long-deprived need for exploration. Last week Monday I spent 4 hours at the Museo d’Orangerie in the Jardin de Tuileries. As my well-researched father told me after learning of my plan: the building was built for Monet for the purpose of displaying his GIGANTIC “Water Lilies” in the most advantageous light. They decided to add another floor in 1999 to display a collection of Picasso and of Cezanne but spent 5 years from ’99 to ’06 taking it down because it blocked the skylights intended for the Water Lilies. They moved the other artists to the basement but were delayed when construction uncovered on the earliest walls surrounding Paris. Stories like this are the things that remind me where I am—and make me realize what history really means. The Orangerie had been an adventure intended for the first day of my arrival in Paris in September—it was supposed to fit somewhere in the 4 hours between getting off the train and check in to the Cite U—so finally getting here two months later, it was highly anticipated. Even with this long wait, I still stood in awe. Monet’s “Water Lilies” have to be experienced in the oval rooms that he intended. I had to do a few double takes in the basement as I walked from Matisse to Cezanne to Picasso…recognizing pieces that I had seen in textbooks. I’ve never studied art besides the basics that were included in history books in high school but can absolutely appreciate why these men were so highly regarded.

It took C and I until Wednesday morning---October 31st, and the LAST day that they were open before winter—for us to make our way to the Versailles gardens. We spent about four hours there and couldn’t have seen more then 15% of them. They are absolutely incredible. C is in my French Revolution and Napoleon Class and we decided to team up for our exposé in 2 weeks on Marie Antoinette. As we are both in the middle of biographies about her, we made it our objective to visit her Domain and the Petite Trianon. Honestly, if you ever make it to Versailles—make this a mandatory part of your visit. After Louis XVI gave M.A. the Petit Trianon (a small-though still very decadent building on the grounds of Versailles) for her own amusement, she decided to develop a model farm and village on the surrounding property complete with a windmill, pumpkin patches (which made me pretty excited as it was the closest I got to Halloween!), vineyards, little cottages, a milking room made of marble and goat shaped faucets on the sinks, fields for her sheep and cows, and a huge pond full of swans. I seriously felt like I was back at Euro Disney. By the time we left, the huge fountain just behind main house had been completely drained for the season…I’ll have to come back in the spring to see the other 85%.

My camera died after this shot:

Steph had the most exciting week of all of us so far and now has a great story to tell when she returns. She went to talk at a museum in the Jardin de Tuileries (just next to the Orangerie) last week. The presentation got out at 9pm—when the Jardin de Tuileries is closed for the night and decided to exit through the gate near the metro and not the open gate near the museum (you can see where this is going). When she reached the gate, it was locked and after wandering around the garden for a few minutes realized that she had been locked inside the Jardin de Tuileries IN THE DARK! At this point I would have panicked, but Steph -being the cool-minded girl that she is- merely wandered over to the side closest to the Louvre where the fence was the lowest. She flung her bag over the top and climbed up—and launched herself over. Of course, the fence was lined with spikes all around and in concentrating on the climb, Steph forgot about the loooong wool coat she was wearing. In short: she made it to the other side only to be hung by 2 pikes going through the bottom of her new wool coat. A man walking by the Louvre heard her fall and had to come over to actually lift her off of the fence. Remaining the high-spirited girl that I know--she said she laughed the whole time and has decided to proudly continue to sport her now punctured coat if only to glorify in her defeat. I only wish I had been there with my camera.

The now infamous coat:

Sorry for the novel….again... if you made it this far, I am highly impressed!

Oh, and one last thing: I got my ImagineR! Only 9 weeks after arrival—but now at least I now to NEVER lose it!