Parisian stuff: 2 weeks

So, I'm definitely not the sappy kind, but after living here for a bit I've come to realize that there is no way that I'm going to make it to all the things on my list before I leave. There are so many streets that I haven’t walked down, so many museums I have yet to see. Instead, I find myself more and more content with the time I spend at home with my incredible surrogate family (and animal farm). I've started actually noticing which metro stop I'm at and what it looks like and how I waited for my friends for 45 minutes at Parmentier last semester and people-watched. When I Vélib to school and pass over the bridge, I (probably shouldn't) look over at the Notre Dame, I stare at the Fontaine St Michel as I ride by. I realize how much I'm going to miss this city. The parts of it that I've gotten to know, at least. But I'm not sad particularly. I'll be back. I'll be back to visit Isabelle and her wonderful family. I'll be back on a Vélib. Many of my friends have been ready to go home for awhile. I'm not even close. I'll live here again. Maybe in a year, maybe in a decade, but I'm most definitely not done with this incredible city.

I'm going to miss so many things that I can't even begin to think about them. The life that I've been living (entirely on my parent's dime...euro...whatever) has been kind of magical. When Anand gave me A Moveable Feast last August, I read it, trying to make some sort of connection with these weird people and this weird city. I don't know what changed, but somewhere in between travels to Germany, Spain, Morocco...Paris became home. Re-reading Mr. Hemingway (in French…for class) this past month made me realize just how much I've fallen in love with this city. I'm sure every single English speaker who spends time in Paris will quote this, but I really can't say it any better. "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young (wo)man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast". So when I leave, I wont be sad to leave this magic behind. I've got a feeling I'll be back soon...Grad school get at me.

Here are some scenes that aren’t famous and aren’t glamorous, but are the Paris I’ve come to know.