Oh La Lauren

Lundi: Atelier . wtf? PJ didn’t show up for class—after waiting half an hour, everyone left.
Mardi: Atelier . Learning about poetry in Littérature—wow I am rusty on that topic.
Mercredi: Paper chaos . Histoire lecture . Field trip . W.H. Smith . Luxembourg Gardens . Wandering the chic area

Why am I feeling stressed out right now?!

That’s not a theoretical question. I may as well just enumerate: 1. Many errands to take care of tomorrow 2. Getting to and from Madrid 3. Enjoying myself in Madrid 4. Choosing where to travel with Laura the first weekend of december 5. Wondering what my finals are going to be 6. Needing to work on my sociology paper 7. Choosing classes for next quarter 8. My room is a freaking mess 9. I want to do laundry so badly 10. Any proper list ends in 10 so I am adding this.

Breathe.

Ok so actually, in the time between starting this entry and typing right now, problem number 4 has resolved itself. Laura and I have chosen to go to Marseille for two days, and then stop in Lyon for a day to see the Fête des Lumières! I’m extremely pleased about this. For a couple of years the footage of Samantha Brown tasting boullabaise and hanging out at the Vieux Port has been engrained in my mind. I have heard from many that Marseille is not the prettiest town in France, but it is extremely different from Paris, and I am so fascinated by this contrast. Will it even feel like France? Also, ever since I heard about this fantastic festival in Lyon, I have wanted to go. But lodgings were snatched up very quickly. I’m so excited to get to see the town at its prettiest!

This has been a fun/funny week so far. Have I mentioned that things get really hectic when you choose to travel two weekends in a row? Anyways, Monday I woke up exhausted from getting home late from Strasbourg. I braved it through atelier, worked on my history paper on Haussmann, and then went to sociology. After waiting half an hour for the prof, it was a no-show. I was ecstatic—it made my day. However, this is like the fourth time this prof has cancelled class. Good thing French students don’t actually pay for this education.

Tuesday was interesting because we discussed poetry terms in literature, which I hadn’t studied since…high school. The terminology definitely kept me on my toes. Immense fear concerning my devoirs sur table set in.

Today was a wonderful day, though. This morning the Sweet Briar Office was crazy, full of Histoire de Paris students wanting to print their papers. I feel pretty good about my research paper about Haussmann. Considering I am really interested in the topic, I put a lot of care into it. I tried to incorporate all of the new French I’ve picked up. Though the topic is nearly impossible to cover in 8 pages, I think I wrote a quality paper. Note: this is the one time I might be happy about something academic.

We started the afternoon fieldtrip at the Opera Garnier, where I realized that it really is extravagantly over-the-top. Then we proceeded to Au Printemps, all the while tracing the effects of Haussmann on the city. Next was a small, discrete church, St. Louis-d’Antin. It had an odd exterior, but a pretty warm interior. We walked through a business-y area that I hadn’t seen before and ended at Eglise de la Sainte-Trinité. What a church! It’s huge and I’d never seen it before! It was especially cool that there is a drive-through at the entryway of the church, which accommodated the bourgeois people who had weddings there.

After spending an hour or two at Sweet Briar, I went to W.H. Smith, an English bookstore, to find Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil, acknowledging that translated poetry is really not a great thing. I stepped out of the shop, and the sun was setting over the Jardins de Luxembourg, so I had to go for a stroll.

They have set up a big ferris wheel at the edge of the gardens. At first I thought it was cool—then I realized there are a million other ways to get cool views of the city, why do you need a ferris wheel?

I’m gonna finish this entry tomorrow, I’m exhausted…hope I can sleep with all these thoughts wizzing through my head…