18/1/11
Today was pretty magical because I went to the Musee D’Orsay after class! I find it amazing that I can stumble over to the Musee D’Orsay any time that I please, because it is so close. I have a student pass, as well, and I can get in for free to make it even more surreal! I went with some friends and only stayed for about an hour and a half because it was already 5 PM, and I unfortunately had work to do at home. I woke up feeling a little icky this morning and my nose is a bit congested at the moment, TMI, perhaps so I apologize, but I hate being sick. The only thing worse than being sick in general, is being sick in a foreign country! I am doing my best to not let that happen by thinking positive and healthy thoughts! More and more, I find that my mental attitude controls more than one could possibly imagine.
I also visited Catholic University today, but unfortunately the exchange student office was closed. I m almost positive that is where I will go and I find it extremely terrifying that classes start in two weeks! I am so NOT ready to go to French university classes and what was I thinking?! Part of me wishes that I just came here to live and not necessarily to study, but then again, I probably wouldn’t be learning nearly as much. I just wish that the grades didn’t matter because I can’t help but be concerned about maintaining my scholarship abroad. Oh, well. I feel the same every semester and it works out just fine! I’ll just pretend that I don’t happen to be in France and that things aren’t completely different this semester! Ha ha. The university is quite endearing, on a positive note, and there is a campus, however tiny, which is rare for Parisian schools. I will go back and take a tour soon because as a student at another University, I realize how much they can actually be quite informative.
Of course, D’Orsay was amazing and I barely had the time to glance through the exhibition, however I saw enough to inspire me and move me to almost tears. I forgot how much it meant to me to stand before Degas’ ballerinas and Toulouse’s whimsical sketches of Monmartre. Plus, now I can go to these cafes and bridges to see what Monet and Renoir saw years ago, and who knows, maybe I will even break out a sketchbook. I was watching an artist sketch in the museum today and it made me want to stop everything and sit beside him. It feels like it has been years since me fingers have applied oil pastels to paper, which seems less and less acceptable as I live here in Paris. The city is too beautiful to not try and capture it, and digital photos can only do so much. I can’t wait to go back to the museum because I was pretty tired when I got there after an entire day of class. Generally, I prefer to go fresh and ready to admire.
Strangely enough, I was eyeing a quiche in a store window on my way home, while wondering when I would eat my first one in Paris. It was almost too creepy when it was dinnertime and Madame had made a quiche, and a salmon and leek one, no less. Those are two of my favorite things in the world and it was delicious! It wasn’t only my first quiche in Paris, but it was also my first one made from scratch! Then we had a salad of just lettuce and some salad dressing that she had made with some oil, vinegar and some herbs, which was surprisingly outstanding! I love this multiple course ritual, by the way, and our final course was some remarkably ripe pineapple! I thought of Christian while I was eating, of course because it is his favorite!
Monsieur wasn’t back yet from his meeting in time for dinner, so it was just Madame and I for a change. It was nice because even though I enjoy Monsieur’s company, he is quiet and sometimes the silence feels heavy because Madame and I do most of the talking. I wish I knew what he was thinking, and yet it is hard enough for me to understand his thick accent when he actually speaks!
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